Regime
by UnorthodoxFog
Summary: Old Berk, for the past decade, starting shortly after Grimmel's death, has been the foundation of a brutal viking regime, where the vikings living under it cannot leave, and are subject to a cult of personality leadership. Any outsiders that sail near it are brutally punished without mercy. When a young viking leader comes into power in the regime, he seeks to solidify sovereignty.
1. A leader lost

**I've totally cleared out my old stories, including my old How To Train Your Dragon ones. I simply wasn't happy with the direction they were going, so here I am, starting fresh, with a brand new story on this fandom that I've thought of for quite a while now.**

**Welcome to Regime. This story takes place ten years after The Hidden World, and is occurring directly after the events of the Homecoming short.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: A leader lost**

Old Berk - sorry, not Old Berk anymore, its new name, formally known as 'The Viking's Mentra' under the regime that came into fruition on the island a decade ago, after Grimmel's defeat on behalf of the Hairy Hooligans, was quite obviously not the same place anymore. It was now the foundation of a brutal regime that has totally renamed the island, and the leadership of this regime has shaped the lives of the many vikings who live under it.

The Island of Mentra (formerly Old Berk) had just lost its first ever leader/Chieftan from death by age. The Mentranian vikings didn't like the usage of the phrase 'Chieftan' as they felt that it had too much of a connection to what they considered a nightmarish past. 'Leader' to them was much more modern and formal, so they used that to identify their top viking.

Carriages were being dragged by what appeared to be slaved dragons; two medium sized Gronckles were attached to a heavy looking wooden carriage carrying the body of the island's first leader, and these dragons were tiring out significantly. Their wings were chopped off a while ago, so they couldn't fly away, and covering the wounded areas of where the wings used to be were leather straps, the straps in which the ropes of the carriage were attached to.

The regime was firmly against its people having their own dragons, as again, they felt it'd be too much of a connection to the 'nightmarish' past, and also, they felt that their people having dragons would significantly undermine the leadership of Mentra. But they weren't against capturing vulnerable, weak dragon species like Gronckles and using them for hard labour. The leadership loved the dragons in that regard; it was basically free labour, and the dragons themselves were able, so why not?

Under the regime of Mentra, dragons were banned from the regular vikings, but the leadership were free to do whatever they wanted with them, like now, using them for slavery rather than their own people.

Walking alongside the carriage holding the wooden coffin of the leader's body was the 20 year old son of the leader who's been widely groomed to succeed his father; Hawkon the Second. He had his left hand up at his forehead in a salute gesture as he walked in line with the carriage, with a saddened expression. Also walking with Hawkon and on the other side of the carriage were other senior vikings of the leadership.

The hundreds and hundreds of regular vikings surrounding the commotion, being held back by the guard vikings of the leadership, were crying and spouting tears out, for the most part. Their cries were aimed at their leader, who was in the position for the past decade, thereby having a great legacy on the regime of Mentra. After all, he was the one who 'founded' it.

The two Gronckles looked even more tired, so much so that their forelegs were shaking, but nobody took any concerns for them.

The soon-to-be-leader in Hawkon, much like his father, was somebody who suffered the wrath of both Grimmel and Drago. They were prisoners of both hunters. Much like the leadership and the vikings living on Mentra, they were tortured and were at times without food for long periods of days. Hawkon was only 10 years old when this happened to him, his father was 50 years old, and considering that his father passed away today, that meant the father/former leader of Mentra had lived up to age 60. If it wasn't for the brutality of Grimmel and Drago, the father of Hawkon could've lived longer.

When Grimmel was defeated, the father was the one who initiated a rebellion against the dragon hunters and warlords who kept himself and fellow vikings imprisoned; eventually, their rebellion succeeded because of the weakness of the warlords without Grimmel advising them. Their victory in the rebellion meant they had plenty of access to equipment, boats and just vital essentials that a viking craves.

They used all of their hard-won items to sail to Old Berk, whereby the father of Hawkon started the process of putting his own idea of a viking settlement into place. The paranoia and the hatred that he had for any outsider, including the Hairy Hooligans, and any non-captured dragon, resulted in his idea quickly evolving into the regime it is today. A closed off, secure regime that wants nothing more than retaining its power forever.

The experience of those close to the leadership and the many vikings living on this island have set the standard for what the regime runs by. Whereas Old Berk, during the Hairy Hooligans living on it, was an open, free island with dragons, the island today, having been renamed obviously to 'Mentra', is anything but open.

There were huge wooden walls with barbed wires all around the shores of the island, and spiky wooden tops, to prevent any intruders from entering/anybody from escaping internally. Remember the cove, and the forest that it was engulfed around? the whole forest has been burnt down by the regime, to make space for extra buildings and living space.

And as for the cove? that too has been deforested and the waterfall and water around it has been collected, and again, in its place were different buildings, many of which were on different levels because of the structure of the cove.

The regime has made so many changes to what was once 'Old Berk' that if anybody from New Berk was to visit it, they wouldn't even recognise the island anymore. What it wanted especially was to separate itself from the past of the Hairy Hooligans. Whatever statue of Stoick/monuments they found when the people who initiated the regime a decade ago arrived on the island, they demolished it all. And their intention of separating themselves from the past of the Hairy Hooligans remains strong today.

For example, all of their buildings weren't painted, like they were shortly before Hiccup & co had to evacuate from the island to escape Grimmel a decade ago. These buildings were all boring wood, and they even demolished the inside of The Great Hall, as they felt that it was too much of a personal asset for the viking who was the Chieftan of the island whilst it was 'Berk'; not just Hiccup, but also Stoick.

This was a regime that was in isolation, internally and externally. There were gigantic crossbows planted over the wooden borders, hilly or not, that were manned by vikings that were apart of the Mentra defence force, a force which the leadership personally monitors. These crossbows were created to prevent any dragons from flying above their own territory, to shoot them down basically, and then subsequently to catch them and use them for slavery/whatever the leadership had in mind.

Many Mentranian vikings, also apart of the defence force, patrolled the border physically, to properly ensure nobody gets out/no outsiders come close. They even patrolled the upper parts of the border, near the big hill in the middle of the island, the regime was that paranoid.

It's hard to see Old Berk as anything but 'Berk', but this regime has totally crushed and eradicated that past, especially by burning down the entirety of the forest and extending the villages out significantly. The island of Mentra was a very very bright island as a result of the hundreds of huts in the place of where the forest used to be. Not only has its deforestation and overtaking eradicated 'Old Berk's' history, it's also eradicated the history of the bond that happened on this island; Toothless and Hiccup.

It probably doesn't even need mentioning what happens to any outsider who dares step onto/sail near the territory of 'The Viking's Mentra'. It's just not nice.

Hawkon the Second and everyone else around the carriage came to a halt, as a wooden, podium-looking platform was in the place of where the steps leading up to the Great Hall used to be. The regime made it a requirement of everyone on the island to attend the funeral and the commemoration of its first ever leader, and in turn, its founder.

Hawkon, attired in a black leather cape, with semi-robes also in black, from his shoulders and downwards, where his legs were exposed in vaguely grey leather, dragon-scale-like pants, stopped and once again saluted at a tough-looking viking, a clear member of the leadership team. After nodding, in the midst of the major outcries of every single regular Mentranian, Hawkon walked past the coffin-carrying carriage, past the tired Gronckles who he didn't bat an eye at, up towards a wooden podium that was elevated due to this part of the ground going upwards towards the middle giant hill of the island.

If you're wondering why the Gronckles simply don't fire their breath, it's quite simple; every single dragon used for whatever reason has a large number of defence force vikings around them, as do these two Gronckles; a single attempt of the dragons to fire their breath will result in the Mentranians plucking blades right into the eyes of the dragons, pretty much killing them. The regime's grip and discipline on the dragons it captures as a result is pretty firm.

Hawkon stood behind the podium and glared at the thousands of vikings cheering him on; ten years of strong leadership from his father has culminated in this...his own island that he's about to rule. As a 20 year old, a young leader is exactly what Mentra needed in order to strive in its existence for years to come, with no further worries of further leader losses anytime soon. He may be inexperienced at battle, but that's why he's been groomed for the role even before his father's passing, for taking the shoes of his father as leader.

Everyone fell silent, and the young leader-to-be started speaking to his vikings. His face masked a saddened expression.

"Ten years ago...we were all liberated from the imprisonment of our enemies...ten years on, we've came out stronger than before..." Hawkon the Second proudly stated, getting goosebumps as he did so.

There was a roar of an applause from the regular vikings, who all seemed to be cheering on their next leader with choreographed-looking clapping.

"It's heartbreaking to me, for my father to have left us now...when all he's done for us, and The Viking's Mentra, is protect us and keep us all under the umbrella of strong leadership, in the face of those who wish to do our great island harm and pain..." Hawkon stated, his voice being projected like a microphone from some sort of megaphone shaped structure of a medium size, made of wood, on his podium.

"For years, I've had the honour of being in the care of my father, a man who I truly intend on doing proud after today's over. We, the Mentranians, with our proud, distinguishable identity amongst these waters, have set the precedent for firm, strong leadership, whereby we will conquer our enemies and any foreign intruders. My dad started that, I intend on continuing it.."

Another roar of applauds came from the crowds of Mentranian vikings.

"Our liberation from the likes of the Hairy Hooligans, Grimmel and Drago, many of whom used to occupy this island...has shown that we can stand tall. Over a decade ago, when that very tribe and those two people occupied this here island, they all inflicted their poisonous addiction with dragons over it. We've eradicated that. They thought they could imprison us and kill our friends and family during their battles, we eradicated that intent. We've transformed this island and we have cleared it of the toxicity that its past, and our past, contained. Let us be clear, The Viking's Mentra is an island of independence, my father was a man of independence, and I intend on following that precedent for all of you, my people, my vikings..." Hawkon proudly announced.

Another set of applauds came.

Hawkon the Second cleared his throat before continuing on.

"My father, whom I loved dearly, aimed to protect me from the merciless wrath of Grimmel and our enemies in general. He aimed to protect us, our island, from foreign intervention of our independence. From the moment it became clear that The Viking's Mentra was its own island, he's delivered that protection. And similarly to how they were merciless and brutal with our people, we will deliver that brutality back, mercilessly, until our enemies get the message, they will NOT defeat us, the great Mentranians, who..." Hawkon was about to continue, but his sentence was interrupted by another applause.

He smiled as a few tears dropped from his eyes from his father's death. He proceeded on wards as he adjusted his robe and cape.

"Who have shown, in the short span of a decade, that we can adapt to our environment, we can adapt to any challenges ahead, and we can adapt to whatever threats come our way. That is why my father, shortly before leaving us, started up our secretive program of defence...a program that will ensure the sovereignty of Mentra, our sovereignty as Mentranians, and our sovereignty as an island totally different from the filth of the past...let us be absolutely clear, anybody who threatens to harm us, or counter our ongoing program of defence, they will feel the wrath of the Mentranian vikings. We will NOT back down, controversial or not, and we will stand our ground. My father is and was the personification of an island standing alone. I will carry that image proudly..."

"And finally, to show that Mentra isn't bluffing, we will scoop out the yolk of outsider interference by force...under no circumstances will Mentra, under me, negotiate with other tribes or islands...if you challenge us, expect an even greater challenge...all of this wouldn't be possible without the solid and stable leadership of my father, our founder. The new era is dawning now...WE WILL CONQUER ALL!" Hawkon cried, patriotic sounding.

After that speech, the applaud returned, but it seemed to be even louder and more of a giant roar in the air. Hawkon waved at all of the Mentranians cheering him on, whilst some were still crying over their founder's death.

Hawkon the Second wasn't the leader yet, but all it takes is a reading of a few historical lines written during the founding of Mentra, and then, what'll culminate is a regime with a young leader poised to lead for decades and decades to come. An isolated regime with solid leadership? surrounding islands were greatly under threat at this point.

Do you even feel like this island used to be Old Berk, or, before the Hairy Hooligans had to evacuate, just Berk? you don't, because the regime's eradicated it all, and their existence was just getting started. With the promise of some sort of defence program, it was looking to secure its future forever, and in the midst of the feelings of Old Berk being totally killed off by the regime, the time was now for the outside tribes/islands surrounding Mentra to watch out.

To add salt to the wounds, it's actually Snoggletog season, but Mentra and the Mentranian regime doesn't celebrate it. This wasn't going to be pretty.


	2. Snoggletog reunion

**CHAPTER 2: Snoggletog reunion**

"I love dragons, and I love Toothless!" Zephyr proudly exclaimed, running from behind Hiccup and Astrid, both of whom were holding each other's arms as they walked.

New Berk was glittered with white crystal snow. The pageant of Snoggletog had just come to a conclusion. The surrounding huts at this portion of the village were green and red respectively, and adding to the festival spirit, glowing yellow bulbs were added on wires around the huts. Snowflakes were still coming down in their tiny portions as the pageant drew to a close until next year's Snoggletog.

What Zephyr was referring to when she said 'I love Toothless!' was her encounter with the Night Fury behind the stage of the pageant a moment ago, just before the Night Fury flew away. He flew towards the stage in the first place to save Hiccup (wearing a metal costume of the Night Fury himself for the pageant) when the Chieftan fell down from behind the stage and down the hill. Toothless had no idea that he saved Hiccup, nor did Hiccup know that it was Toothless who lifted him up from falling to a potential doom.

But still, the Snoggletog season was rampant, despite its conclusion nearing. Nuffink was marching forwards in his metal helmet like a tiny warrior, slightly ahead of his mother and father in Astrid and Hiccup respectively. Zephyr skipped in front of her parents, her arms out like dragon wings as she did so, to mimic a flying dragon.

"He's beautiful!" she said, "why didn't you tell me you were really going to bring him here?!"

Off she went, skipping once again with excitement.

"I...literally have no idea what she's talking about?" Hiccup shrugged, as Gobber walked behind him and Astrid, "this whole thing was...not what I expected..." he added.

Astrid slowly nudged Hiccup to look at what Zephyr and Nuffink were doing, but also at what some other viking children were doing. They seemed to be dressing the Stoick statue with a green decoration, and Zephyr, with Nuffink, seemed to be reenacting a certain moment of the pageant.

"Hey! my name's Toothless!" Nuffink said, sounding dignified.

Zephyr rushed upon a rolled log on the ground, standing besides her brother. She lowered her head down as Nuffink laid his palm on her forehead.

"Let's be friends!" Nuffink added.

What a lovely sight. Zephyr and Nuffink were reenacting the moment Toothless and Hiccup bonded, and in turn, that specific part of the Snoggletog pageant just now.

"You were right..." Hiccup said, smiling as he turned to face Astrid, "it was exactly what everyone needed...for the kids, and for the memory of my father.."

"Aww.." Astrid smiled, as she went in to hug Hiccup.

The two embraced each other for a moment. Afterwards, Hiccup turned to Gobber, who was also standing besides them.

"Gobber..." Hiccup said, "you have well and truly honoured my father..."

"It was my deepest privilege to do so. Thank you Hiccup." Gobber said.

Hiccup smiled and slightly nodded at Gobber, as a token of gratitude. Gobber was like one of the closest friends Hiccup had, and that wasn't a surprise, given Gobber was also close to Stoick back in the day.

"Well, guess I'll be heading home...alone..." Gobber said, "that's been the best Snoggletog we've ever had..."

"Gobber, uh, if you're free-"

"I'd love to!" Gobber instantly replied, walking back towards Hiccup and Astrid, and in turn, to their hut.

Zephyr and Nuffink had set up a few playful traps at the hut, so they had to disarm them first. As they did so, Hiccup and Astrid watched on from the wooden fences at the front of the hut, proudly.

"I'm so proud of them..." he said, holding Astrid's hand.

Suddenly, familiar shadow figures roamed past everyone on the ground from above, and as soon as Hiccup saw the wings on those shadows, he looked up at the sky in awe...could it be?

"T-Toothless?" Hiccup said, widened eyes and all, similar to Astrid.

"LOOK!" Zephyr pointed, alongside Nuffink, at the sky.

The Light Fury and Toothless, in their distinguishable black and white, were flying calmly and slowly above New Berk, and above this area, allowing for plenty of time for them to catch a glimpse of the dragons. The three Night Lights were in front of the two furies. The giant milky moon made the sighting all the more emotional for them.

"O-Our loved ones are always nearby...when we hold them in our hearts." Hiccup whispered to himself, as he looked up at the sky with an open smile.

"Maybe it's our turn to visit them?" Astrid suggested.

And by god, it was indeed their turn to visit the dragons.

* * *

Hiccup and Nuffink were gliding up in the clouds seemingly, but then Toothless's body and head came out from the clouds. They finally reunited after all. As Toothless cheerfully flew within the clouds with his best friend, who he hasn't seen for a decade until now, Nuffink briefly went up into the air and slowly went back down, safely into Hiccup's grasp again.

The memories...everything was coming back to them.

The three Night Lights caught up with Hiccup and Nuffink on Toothless. For a moment they were all behind the Light Fury, who looked back at them. They were all embracing the lovely skies of post-Snoggletog. Nuffink gave a high five to the white Night Light, who was nearest to the pair. Afterwards, something had thundered directly past Hiccup and Nuffink on Toothless.

Stormfly, with Astrid and Zephyr riding her, was the one who thundered past Toothless. Toothless slowly glided besides Stormfly, and afterwards, Hiccup reached his palm out towards Zephyr to quickly lift her onto Toothless, all of this being done in the high skies. How brave were Zephyr and Nuffink?

All the dragons, with the humans, flew off into the sunlight, celebrating the rest of their reunion.

* * *

"THAT WAS AWESOMEEEE!" Nuffink exclaimed, as Astrid, Hiccup and Zephyr sailed back towards New Berk.

The three dragons in the Light Fury, Toothless and Stormfly, all went back to The Hidden World after their reunion with their respective humans, as did the Night Lights.

"Why couldn't they come back with us, dad?" Zephyr asked, as she sat down, totally buzzed up from the experience of flying on the dragons themselves.

"Because it's where they need to be, Zeph. They're safe down there, but no doubt, one day again, we'll go back and visit them." Hiccup said.

"Wasn't that just the perfect way to culminate Snoggletog, babe?" Astrid said, standing besides Hiccup as she monitored the calm sea waters as they sailed back to New Berk.

"I'm so glad we paid them the favour back, Astrid. He hasn't forgotten us...nor has Stormfly!" Hiccup said.

"Yep. I can predict, given what we've just gone through, that the Snoggletog spirit won't disappear for another few days. It's what we need nowadays, anyways."

"We definitely need a break. The kids enjoyed the pageant, we've seen the dragons again, when everything's calmed down a bit maybe we can do some other things like this?" Hiccup shrugged, as Zephyr and Nuffink started playing together.

"What if...to remind the kids of where we used to live, we visit the old island?" Astrid suggested.

That was an amazing idea in Hiccup's head. He didn't even think of that.

"That's actually a really good idea, wow. We can definitely do that in the future. Good thinking, Astrid."

"As always, am I right?" she chuckled.

Hiccup nodded at her, as the two of them resumed their focus on sailing back to New Berk.

* * *

Hawkon the Second was about to be cemented as Mentra's official leader. A speech from him was due to take place, setting out the type of leadership he intends to pursue for as long as he'll be leader, (which'll most likely be 40 years and longer, given that he's only 20 years old).

Hawkon, fully protected by firm and strong security in the form of the leadership guards, was situated in a giant hall near the middle of the village in Mentra where the forest used to be before it was burnt down. This hall was of a significance to the Mentranian leadership. It was usually where they'd meet, at least, that's what the founder of Mentra, Hawkon's farther, used to prefer. There was no guarantee Hawkon would use this hall as a significant place like his father did.

As the soon-to-be-leader, he was already considering his many tactics of protecting his safety. Not just the viking guards of the leadership, but also he'll be considering where he situates himself when important meetings/decisions need to be made. Here's the thing; Hawkon the Second, when he becomes leader, could very well break protocol with his father's leadership, despite pledging to live up to the image of it in the funeral speech he gave last night.

At the moment, Hawkon was at the front of the hall, in a packed environment, but not with the regular vikings of the island. Instead, one half of the hall had members of the Mentranian defence force, and the other had senior leadership members. The group in the hall at the moment were the people Hawkon, as Mentra's leader, would be negotiating with and meeting up with on a constant basis. They'll be looking to their new leader, despite his inexperience in battles/viking combat and his young age, for orders and ways of keeping Mentra an ongoing sovereign place for years to come.

There, in reality, was no threat to Mentra's sovereignty at all, considering it's managed to survive for a decade up to now. But Hawkon was already starting to feel the paranoia. After all, Mentra was the only viking regime going, other islands aren't viking regimes, nor was this island itself when the likes of Hiccup and the Hairy Hooligans with Stoick lived on it, alongside the dragons.

A regime viking leader was somebody who'd potentially be on the hit list of other islands, something Hawkon instantly saw as a potential threat. He knew this threat could be a possibility because the surrounding viking islands may acknowledge just how extreme of a leadership the regime of Mentra itself imposes upon its own vikings, leading to the other islands wanting to wipe out the leader to make the Mentranian vikings live a more free and easy life.

Hawkon and Mentra were under no such threats at the moment. But given the magnitude of the role Hawkon's about to be cemented into, the paranoia in his head couldn't be killed off. Even his father was paranoid about his safety due to his position as an extreme regime leader, prior to his death.

Hawkon stepped up in front of the packed hall, alongside two armoured up vikings. Another wooden podium was set up in front of the sitting vikings. For this cementing of Hawkon's position, no regular Mentranians were allowed, and because of Hawkon's paranoia, every single regular viking around the area of the hall outside were forcefully moved away, to make the vicinity empty and void of any citizen vikings of Mentra.

And this was done, despite the fact Hawkon literally made an announcement to thousands of Mentranians on behalf of his father's death.

He straightened up his black, dragon scale looking robes, as he gulped with nervousness at the senior vikings in the hall.

"Today is a historic day, my friends..." Hawkon claimed, both hands firmly rested on the sides of the podium, "The Viking's Mentra has never had a brighter future, and that brighter future wouldn't have been brought about if it wasn't for my father. I, as your new leader, intend on accelerating development on our defence program, and keeping Mentra as a sovereign island."

Hawkon cleared his throat as he now looked to begin reading off of the historic paper written by his father, when he founded the sovereignty of The Viking's Mentra. It was a treaty whereby Hawkon needed to read the historic lines, and then the final bits of it could be modified and written by him, so he could lay out his ambitions as Mentra's leader for the upcoming years ahead.

"I, as a proud viking of Mentra, intend to provide leadership whereby I protect our vikings, our sovereignty, but most importantly, protect us all from the poison of the past. The Viking's Mentra was founded on the basis of liberation from enemy vikings, and I, as the leader, will carve the path on that basis."

The protocol of cementing a leader was a strict routine in the Mentranian viking regime, even for the leader himself. He had to follow it through before being given all of the powers.

"I promised you all that I'd build off of my father's defence program that he proposed. I intend on accelerating it straight away once I become leader. We need strong, smart defending tactics to keep Mentra free from our hostiles. And that is why I will instantly commence Phase 1 of Mentra's defence program. This first phase will involve capturing the dragons left over from the dragon island whereby the so-called 'Red Death' used to reside, years ago whilst this great island was under the poison of the Hooligans. There's no hiding the fact that dragons had all left for The Hidden World a decade ago, but it just so happens that, when my father sent Mentra's envoy to the island that used to contain the Red Death for inspection, they stumbled across dragons that had stayed behind."

"This first phase, as a result, will culminate in getting a huge chunk of those dragons captured. Next, the dragons captured will be forcefully mated together, thereby hatching new dragons from various eggs. I must stress that as leader, I will hold no hesitations or sympathy for getting this done, so the dragons being forced together is a walk in the grass like every other day. It must be done, and strong leadership means, after all, you must endure blood, violence, all of those things, and not bat a single eye at it. The resulting offspring of those dragons that we'd have forcefully mated with each other will be taken back to us as apart of Phase 2 of the program. The left over dragons we will simply execute, given the uselessness they'd become."

"All of this is just a brief summary of what I intend on accomplishing as Mentra's leader. As I made clear in my speech yesterday, Mentra will not be stopped in its path in pursuing such a program, or any other goals, and if we are, the ones holding back will be met with great force, personally approved by me. Mentra will NOT negotiate, we will simply retaliate, and lastly, Mentra will NOT surrender under any circumstances. If they challenge us, we give them a thumping challenge back." Hawkon concluded, but he had one more thing left to say as apart of the protocol.

A pre-leader needed to emit the famous words written in the treaty by Hawkon the Second's father, and after saying those words, the pre-leader, provided he's in the presence of Defence Force/leadership vikings, will officially become leader.

"My loyalty has been given. And it is with this that I proudly declare myself to be the head of Mentra." Hawkon, to a huge round of applause from everyone, concluded.

Hawkon gave himself goosebumps as he looked around.

It was now official; Hawkon the Second was the leader of The Viking's Mentra, meaning his powers could now be utilised straight away. It was time to get to work.


	3. Signing the pact

**CHAPTER 3: Signing the pact**

Hawkon the Second was sat within an isolated room, on a table opposite a bearded viking. Notably, this viking had tons of metal gear on him as well as dragon-scale looking robes. The two of them were on Mentra, but where was a question only Hawkon knew the answer to. It was crucial for the new leader of The Viking's Mentra to set up this secret meeting in a vicinity where they were free of the regular Mentranians.

"Pleasure to meet you." Hawkon nodded.

"The feeling's mutual, young leader. I'm glad that we've able to set this whole thing up, it'll be for our benefit."

"Very much so. Now as you know, the Mentranian vikings and our sovereign people intend on pursuing a program of defence. We're going to capture dragons and force them to breed with each other so we get their offspring, and then the offspring will be used in the second phase of the program."

"I was briefed on this by my fellow vikings. I have to say that Mentra, and your people, have done a jolly good job of overturning this island from its past when it was ruled by the Hooligans, and subsequently, where my former Chieftan in Dagur the Deranged sympathised with the Hooligans. We're a resurgent tribe as far as I'm concerned."

"I never got your name?" Hawkon said.

"Sorry. Formally speaking, I'm the Chieftan of the Berserkers as you'll know. My name is Fludgeon the Feared, as they call me back on my island. We disposed of Dagur quite a while ago in fact, when it became clear that our tribe was sympathising with Hiccup and his thugs. That change of attitude towards them didn't go down well with our tribe at the time, let me assure you." Fludgeon emphasised.

"You better hope that that assurance has ground to it. This pact our respective people have been negotiating, which originally started almost a year ago now, whilst my father led this great island, has been built on the basis that you lot specifically won't ever soften up to the ones we consider our enemies. Because if you do, you know what'll happen. It's that simple." Hawkon confidently made clear.

"We call ourselves the resurgent Berserkers, because we've completely changed our past image. Under this new type of Berserker leadership, there was never a peace treaty or whatever Dagur begged up to with the Hooligans over a decade ago. And let me tell you, dear Hawkon, we've been negotiating this pact because we want to maintain your system of leadership on the island. We want the Mentranian sovereignty to be maintained on the island, we don't want it to be taken back by the Hooligans, so believe me when I say that this pact has ground to it on our behalf." Fludgeon emphasised.

"Good."

"Indeed. This pact between us will create a dominance of the waters, that dominance being split between ourselves of course. Us Berserkers will prop up your island and your leadership from here on out, after a year of talking with each other."

"And be in no doubt, you will assist us in accomplishing the goal of our defence program that I intend to start shortly?" Hawkon interrogated.

"Of course. We're one of the largest tribes within this area, our numbers and your numbers combined will not only lead to a huge force, it'll also lead to a boost in how fast you get this program of yours under way. Of course, the Berserkers do expect some stuff in return?"

"If you're going to attach that to the pact, you may as well consider it scrapped. Mentra will not surrender anything to anyone, whether they're a friend or our enemies. It's your choice." Hawkon firmly insisted, the young leader not happy at all with that expectation from Fludgeon; it wasn't even in the treaty.

"No no, of course, that's totally fine with us. It's on my agenda to keep your sovereignty alive, so of course, there'll be no need for anything in return." Fludgeon stuttered.

The reason why the Berserker Chieftan in Fludgeon was being so generous with Hawkon was this; as resurgent Berserkers, their main priority was keeping the Mentranian regime alive, and to keep it constituting 'Old Berk' as the island used to be called. Because if the Mentranian regime stays, the Hooligans, should they one day sail back here, will be blocked from living on the island ever again, since a regime's constituting on it. The Berserkers were fully intent on working with the Mentranian viking regime to prevent it from collapsing, and as one of the most dangerous tribes, they'd provide a credible boost to it.

The Mentranian regime's policy of brutally and mercilessly punishing those who sail to it was also perfect from the view of the Berserkers. Because if the Hooligans ever tried to sail back to the island one day, the Mentranian regime would do the job for the Berserkers themselves; most likely killing the Hooligan(s), whether that'd be Hiccup, Astrid, or just any of them.

The Berserkers still wanted to maintain the Mentranian viking regime beyond the Hooligans, as well.

All of this, arguably, would make Hawkon the Second, one of the youngest viking leaders, one of the most powerful leaders of the whole archipelago. His regime would be unstoppable.

Hawkon, in his speech before becoming leader of The Viking's Mentra, specifically promised that Mentra would not 'negotiate', but this pact agreement was an exception, specifically because these negotiations have gone on for a year at this point, before being handed over to Hawkon when he became leader a short while ago.

The leadership team of Mentra know about the negotiations, as does the Defence force, the only ones who didn't were the Mentranian vikings themselves. The idea was to keep the pact concealed from their eyes, so the leadership, and in particular, Hawkon himself, wouldn't be seen as weak and feeble to the eyes of the Mentranian vikings.

"From my understanding, Fludgeon, one of the pledges my father made a while back for this pact was to create a situation where, should you Berserkers come across any Mentranians that have escaped us by swimming to your island, you'll return them back to my island?" Hawkon asked, leaning backwards on his chair.

"That is certainly something we agreed to, and it's right here in our treaty." Fludgeon verified.

"Very well. It's vital that you supply us extra weaponry and gear, so we can strengthen ourselves up for any sort of retaliation. The Hooligans aren't around here anymore, but it's best to be prepared regardless. And also, whilst you'll be helping out with our defence program, you won't have a firm overview over it all. I'll personally be monitoring progress on the program. And should this whole agreement fall flat and you fail to live up to the words and agreements made in this treaty, we will simply back out of it and move forwards on our own. We've done it for ten years, we can do it again if we have to." Hawkon proclaimed.

Fludgeon the Feared nodded at Hawkon.

"Consider it done, young leader." Fludgeon declared.

Hawkon grabbed the treaty and slowly slid it over to himself across the table. Taking out some sort of pencil, he signed his name at the bottom of the treaty, subsequently sliding it across the table back over to Fludgeon. Fludgeon signed his name below Hawkon's.

The leader of Mentra and the Chieftan of the Berserker tribe stood up, and shook hands together across the table. The pact was now officially ratified.

Now, should anyone dare combat Mentra, they'll have to deal with a resurgent Berserker tribe, whereby its intent is to keep the Mentranian viking regime from collapsing due to it acting as a blockage of the old island for the Hooligans. Hawkon was now free to pursue his program within the vicinity with no fears of prevention.

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid were back at New Berk, inside the hut with Zephyr and Nuffink, both of whom were extremely tired. Whilst Zephyr and Nuffink were napping, Astrid and Hiccup were discussing the future ideas that they had in mind.

"So I was thinking we could visit Old Berk at some point, you know, the kids will wanna know where we used to live, after all." Astrid said.

"Definitely. When do you think we should that? in a few days? ideally I want the kids to have a break from all of the stuff we've done with Snoggletog and earlier on, with the dragons." Hiccup said.

"Probably in a weeks time then? Zephyr and Nuffink are already active ones as they are."

"Great idea then, we should definitely do that Astrid. In fact," Hiccup said, sitting up from the wooden chair he was on, "maybe I'll head on down and ensure the boat is in good shape for when we use it again? gotta make sure our safety is at its highest point when we're sailing, after all?"

"Sure. You go and do that babe, I'll look after the kids whilst they nap." Astrid nodded.

Hiccup rubbed his beard before heading off. He made sure to creep out of the hut quietly as to not disturb Zephyr or Nuffink in their nap. Hiccup nodded and waved at Astrid as he headed for the door.

Opening the door and heading out to the wooden front of the hut, into the beaming sunlight, Hiccup caught a glance of the other huts nearby; the snow was starting to melt on the ground and on top of them. He proceeded to walk off of the wooden floor at the front of his hut onto the ground itself, where small puddles of water were as a result of the melting snow.

Few vikings were wandering around the village. Maybe most of them were simply inside their respective huts. One thing Hiccup loved about New Berk, ever since moving onto it a decade ago, was just how secure it felt; the fact it was an elevated mountain, basically, meant that they were immune to any hostile sailor vikings or any raids.

He walked further into the village, before catching a glare of familiar faces coming from the corner of his eyes.

"Hi son, where have you been?" Valka said, walking towards Hiccup from the other huts.

She was joined by Snotlout, (no surprise there), and Eret.

"Yeah Hiccup, I thought for a moment that you like..totally vanished into thin air, you were gone for a while?" Snotlout said, keeping himself close to Valka.

"Get this crazy freak away from us, Hiccup, he's not stopped following your mum around the village all day?" Eret insisted.

"It's okay, Eret. But Snotlout, do you never catch a break or something? you're practically stalking my mum?"

"It's not stalking, Hiccup, it's bonding."

"Gosh." Valka shuddered, walking closer towards Hiccup in an attempt to get away from Snotlout and his obsessive behaviour.

"Anyways, uh, I was going to head down and back to the boats. Me and Astrid are gonna take the kids to the old island, we figured it'd be a good idea to give them a visit to our old living space?" Hiccup said, as he, alongside Valka and Eret with Snotlout, walked in a semi-single file line.

"Oooh, they'll like that, son. I think the statues of Stoick may still be there as well, that is assuming Grimmel never destroyed them when we had to leave. It's been so long I can't remember if they were destroyed or not. But it'll be a nice historical thing for them." Valka said.

"Yeah, the statues of dad are sure to be there. It'll probably make the kids realise just how strong we were and still are, to have come all the way from there to here, and I guess you could also say it's evidence to them, of us not always being on this island?" Hiccup shrugged.

"Without a doubt, Hiccup."

"Uh, what're we gonna do about the stage, Hiccup? I kinda wanna perform again, only this time, mocking the absolutely poor act Tuffnut made during the pageant. I was laughing all the way through his part of the show." Snotlout said, briefly giggling afterwards.

"Gobber's sorting that out, and after I've done this with the boats, we can go and help him. I really enjoyed Snoggletog this year, you guys. Mum, you didn't see it happen, but I saw Toothless and the Light Fury visit us on the night."

"Really? I didn't see them, I don't think any of us did, they've been in The Hidden World for years now, haven't they?" Valka said.

"Yeah, they have," Hiccup said, as he, in the group, continued walking through the village amongst the roofing trees where the crystal white collections of snow were slowly dripping water as they melted, "but that's where I've been as well, today, we found them...at the entrance of The Hidden World. Zephyr told me that she saw Toothless behind the stage during the night of the pageant, like, after I fell down from the stage in the costume...to have seen Toothless again, it gave me massive goosebumps..."

"You should've told me, son, I'd have came along with you?" Valka said.

"And me." Eret added.

"Me fourth." Snotlout added.

"I-It's third, Snotlout?" Eret said, confused, as he looked at Snotlout.

"That's where you're wrong, Eret. There's four of us, so-"

"You are such a weirdo, honestly. I don't think I could see more stupidity in a person than if I was to throw myself off of a hill, quite honestly." Eret said.

Snotlout shrugged, not phased by Eret's name calling of being a 'weirdo'. Snotlout lived to be weird.

"Well, I would've told you mum, but you were tired, I didn't think you'd want to come out and fly on them and see them after being as tired as you were.."

"No worries, son, it's probably for the better if I didn't see them. After all these years I probably would've been unsure as to how to react to them. Maybe luck will strike us a second time." Valka said.

Hiccup nodded. The group all headed off into the direction they were walking, as New Berk started being melted of its snow from the return of the sun and the heat, in light of Snoggletog now being over. The green colours of the grass and leaves were subtly and slowly returning.


	4. Life in Mentra

**CHAPTER 4: Life in Mentra**

When this place was Old Berk, everyone was happy and had tons of freedom; dragons were all in the air, the atmosphere was filled with excitement because of those dragons, and Hiccup as Chieftan proved to be more than competent, leading to a confidence in his capability after the defeat of Drago.

There were no giant wooden borders with barbed wires around the island, from hills to flat ground, as there are now.

There was, unlike nowadays, a forest, where Hiccup and Toothless famously bonded. That forest had been burnt down, as mentioned already, by the regime in order to make more living space for the Mentranians.

There was no constant reminder that you had to pay your respects to the leader, as there is now.

There was nothing stopping you from wandering around the villages and the whole island generally, during the days of it being 'Berk'. In contrast, nowadays, Mentranian vikings had boundaries drawn into the vicinity of Mentra they lived in that they _had_ to stay put in unless told so.

Why? because the regime was very strict in ensuring its stability, which it felt was helped by ensuring its vikings weren't overcrowding one half of the village and leaving other bits of it unequal in numbers.

The whole island, as a result, had an almost even amount of Mentranians living in every single vicinity. And whilst this sounded good for Mentra's stability being maintained, it only caused stress for the Mentranian vikings themselves. The fear of the unknown, specifically; what would happen to them if they accidentally stepped out of the boundaries they've been forced to stay within? what would the punishment(s) entail?

It'd be a lie to say the Mentranian vikings weren't being watched, because they _were_ being watched, making their fears totally valid and understandable; Defence force Mentranians, having the permission to move between all the boundaries, patrolled the island to ensure protocols were being met, and that the regular Mentranians weren't stepping out of their boundaries. In short, they were patrolling the island to enforce the rules of the regime, and if needed, the punishments.

The stress was thickened by the fact that access to food was limited. Because the regime burned down the forest years ago, there were no longer wild boars to slay for meat, nor were there anymore apples. Of course, there were still a few trees leftover around Mentra, but they were hardly enough. As expected, the main supply of food came from fishing. Cod, Salmon, pretty much the fish that the Berkians used to eat and still do eat.

However, it wasn't that straight forward. No regular Mentranian could simply just grab a rod and go fishing by the ocean. You needed to have trust by the leadership that you're trustworthy enough to go fishing, and gaining trust from the leadership was a hard thing to come by. One criteria required to have the trust is that you cannot have broken any of the rules of the island within the past year. So if a Mentranian seeking to be employed by the leadership to go fishing recently stepped over the boundaries of where he/she lives on the island, they'd be instantly disqualified from seeking to be employed for a year.

Those who have been employed by the regime to fish for the island's supply of food, are set a specific quota by the leadership. The regime took obtaining its food seriously, despite its tough and harsh-sounding policy. It knew, and Hawkon, in light of becoming leader, knew that he had to keep his vikings well fed and watered. But the toughness and the harshness of the policy was another example of the regime's extreme paranoia. That was why it had Defence force vikings casually wandering around on the wooden boardwalks that the regime built, specifically for the fishermen Mentranian a while ago, to fish on.

Anyone employed by the leadership, like fishers, had permission to walk beyond their boundaries over the island. But the regime ensured that their freedom to do so was limited, in comparison to the Defence force Mentranians.

They'd usually be patrolling directly behind the fishing Mentranians as they were doing it. Because if the regime didn't keep an eye even on the ones it knows it can somewhat trust to help in the food supply, they could easily just jump off the boardwalk, into the ocean, and swim away from Mentra.

Those boardwalks were the first thing the regime built when it was founded by Hawkon's father a decade ago, even when the forest was still intact. They knew at the time there'd be a huge supply of fish to catch, and it's helped out a lot to today.

All the families that live within Mentra are supplied with three caught fish of different types, every week. It's just about enough for every individual Mentranian viking/Mentranian family, so it was better than nothing. But the fact it was 3 fish that the Mentranians were expected to live off of every week made the majority of them feel stressful; they'd still be hungry by the end of the week.

Barrod, a Mentranian who's lived here from the moment the regime was founded, oddly enough, loved his life. The regime's harsh and tough way of running things felt like a normality to him. Because he's been on Mentra from the moment the regime was formed, he was completely adapted to the life style. In fact, he even loved it at times. The thought of getting things done and making a good impression to the Defence force, alongside feeding his family extra food by being employed as a Mentranian fisher, he felt dignified in himself.

He was one of the rare few living on the island who didn't suffer with stress, because being employed by the leadership meant that the food supplies given every week were doubled. The regime would only double the supply given to its employed fishermen occasionally, not every week, because it wanted to ensure it had enough for the future, again another example of the paranoia the top leaders at Mentra have.

Naturally, he knew nothing of this island's history, like the majority of Mentranians, where it used to be called 'Berk' and was lived on by dragons and the Hooligans. He didn't even know of the Hooligans, but he knew, beyond the seas, there were other tribes and islands. He was comforted by the fact that his home island and its leadership have thrived for the past 10 years, making him feel like he was totally safe and secure from the potential threats.

Barrod, alongside his fishermen/women companions, was on the edge of the boardwalk that stretched out from the front part of the island. It was notably colder on the boardwalk than it was back on the actual island, as to be expected. In total, there were about seven fishers on the boardwalk, all of whom had their personal baskets besides them, for them to dump their catches in.

Generally, the fishing sessions last from the morning to the evening, and they're expected to fish for the regime every other day, giving them a one day break in between, so they can be with their families and their friends on the island.

A couple of Defence force vikings patrolled back and forth behind them all. They were equipped with crossbows that they were holding downwards. The amount of metal the Defence force Mentranians had on them led to a constant sound of colliding metal every time they walked.

It was the job of the Defence force vikings to enforce the quota set by the leadership, of how many fish the workers needed to catch.

The waters were waving slightly, the scent of seaweed was rampant in the air on the boardwalk, and all of the fishers, including Barrod, held their rods very steadily as they were awaiting a bite.

"Here he is, our top fisherman himself..." one of the Defence force Mentranians said, coming up to Barrod from behind and patting him on the back.

"Y-yeah, how're you doing sir?" Barrod said, nervously talking.

He wasn't nervous in the sense that he was scared. He was nervous because he was talking to a viking who's not only apart of the force of Mentra, but a viking who's also personally met with the leader, in Hawkon the Second, and before him, Hawkon's father.

Every single Defence force Mentranian needed to meet the leader of Mentra to properly take their positions as defenders. Within Mentra, it was the dream of some of the vikings to meet their leader personally. Barrod wanted to make a good impression not just by his fishing, but also by his civil communication skills; his ultimate dream was to especially meet the new leader of Mentra, Hawkon.

"Very well, thank you, Barrod. This isn't any endorsement of you, by the way, but I just wanted to congratulate you on gaining the perception we, including myself, have of you. You're a credit to the job. Keep it up." he said, sending butterflies into Barrod's body.

He jumped for joy internally, at the Defence force viking saying that to him. Barrod was one of the best performers at catching fish, and the Defence force vikings took notice of that ages ago. His hope is that it'll lead to the leader taking notice of the praise as well.

Barrod was completely in his element, fishing for the regime's food supplies. But whilst he's enjoying his life on Mentra, other vikings were dreading it every single day.

For example, a Mentranian by the name of Stemp, who's a mother to two children, is required by the policy of the regime, like every single other mother on Mentra, to send her children to a schooling session of some sorts. The actual 'schooling' is the children being given what'd secretly be known as propaganda about the leadership of Mentra and Mentra itself. They were taught combat stuff and moves, information about the enemies, which is pretty much everyone in the eyes of the regime, and the many jobs available to the children themselves when they're older.

There were at least over 30+ children in these schooling Mentranian sessions, due to how many mothers lived on the island.

The schooling session always took place in a spot that you'd think the regime would've demolished due to its past, but they never did. It was the old dragon training arena, the engulfed rocky space with metal bars over the top of it like a dome. The regime obviously made a few modifications to it to differentiate it from its past look, but apart from that, it's been intact for the past decade. The young Mentranians were always taught in this area for their schooling.

The Mentranians who ran the teachings and these sessions generally, much like the fishermen, had to be approved of by the leadership personally, but another thing was loyalty.

They needed to have a genuine love and loyalty of the leadership and the Mentranian system, which wasn't an easy thing to prove at all. These Mentranian viking teachers also needed to have tons and tons of training in the bag, to be able to reiterate the lessons whilst knowing precisely what they're talking about. As always, a Defence force viking was kept in the arena at all times to ensure that the teacher(s) weren't giving deliberately false information to the young Mentranians.

The reason why Stemp dreaded every day on Mentra, especially for her two children, was just that; she _had_ to send her two children to a session whereby they'll be given fake information that'll alienate them when they're older. Stemp was one of the rare few who could see right through the regime, but she's refused to speak out about it every single time, because of the fear of the severe consequences that'd come her way if she was to.

In light of that, the Mentranians who had children at these sessions were temporarily allowed to walk over their boundaries of their vicinity to pick up their children when the sessions concluded.

Things weren't going well for Stemp at the moment. She was in her hut, confronted by a Defence force viking, for missing out what the regime considers a compulsory thing for every Mentranian to have in their huts; a portrait of Hawkon's father. Hawkon himself didn't get a portrait because he's the present leader. Stemp entirely forgot to get a portrait when the regime was handing them out to their vikings shortly after Hawkon's speech.

The Defence force's job was to check _every_ single Mentranian hut, to ensure they've got their portraits up of the late leader & founder of Mentra. Quite obviously, Stemp hasn't lived up to that criteria. If you're wondering how they've managed to paint _that_ many portraits, they actually started creating them a year before Hawkon's father's death, when it became clear age was catching up with the late Mentranian leader.

"Just come with me for a moment." the Defence force viking said, walking towards Stemp's door.

"W-What for?" Stemp, fearing for her life, uttered.

"Just come with me."

Stemp reluctantly walked behind the Defence force viking, who's metal clanging noises as he walked intimidated her. She was in huge trouble, she could sense it. Her chest was tightening and her heart was beating twice the rate.

Once they got outside, the Defence force viking, turning around to face Stemp, glared at her with nothing but a solemn expression. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all. All of the brown huts in the background made for an even more intimidating encounter.

"Do you know why we're here at all?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, absolutely." Stemp rushed to say, in fear.

"Tell me."

"Because of our great leader, our great great leader who saved us and brought us onto this island to protect us."

"Where's your portrait, then?"

"And I wholeheartedly admire our new leader, Hawkon, and I pray to our founder every day." she said, in a panic.

"Fine. But where's your portrait?"

Stemp didn't want to say she had forgotten.

"I...I just didn't see them being handed out, sir?"

"Cut the game. When our new leader gave his speech, we made it quite clear afterwards that it was a requirement for everyone, including myself and fellow defenders, to stay behind to be given portraits, regardless of whether it'd take us all night to hand them out. You left much earlier than you should've. Maybe you forgot. We'll let you off this once, but under the condition you come with us to claim your portrait and stick it up in your hut, and then when we're in your hut, you bow down to our late founder and apologise for the disrespect you've shown him. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir, yes...you're very clear, I wholeheartedly apologise for disrespecting our late founder...we will kill those who dare disrespect him!"

"Very much so. Now come with me and we can get started on your apology."

Stemp felt relieved, but also humiliated. She's just had to be scrutinised heavily and nearly threatened with her life in front of other Mentranians. The one thing she was grateful for was the fact that her children weren't around to see that just now.

She was one of those who firmly remembered the early days of Mentra; it wasn't this strict, harsh, cult of personality regime. It was genuinely just one large collection of people being led by a person who knew what he was doing in their view at the time, because he was the one who initiated the rebellion against Grimmel's men when Grimmel himself died. Hawkon's father was somebody who was leading the people to a recovery from being prisoners of Drago and Grimmel. People who followed him onto the abandoned land of what used to be 'Berk', to create a new settlement on the abandoned island at the time for themselves.

But then the concept of power got into him, and as those people he led started having children, he initiated the beginnings of some sort of leadership, a regime, the regime started growing and expanding, to the point it is today. She had no idea what happened to the early days.

The mindset of them relying on Hawkon's father at the time has emerged into the mindsets of the children today, making it much easier for the regime to keep its grip on power over its vikings.

They were just two present situations of life under the Mentranian viking regime. Freedoms that the Hooligans had when this island was 'Berk', were killed & gone. In its place rested a decade-old cult of personality system that looks to be an existence for many more years to come.


	5. Secret weapon

**CHAPTER 5: Secret weapon**

Mentra was of course a cult of personality regime; the vikings here needed to pay their respects to the late founder in Hawkon's father and the present leader in Hawkon himself. Enforcing the cult of personality, anyone who spoke negatively/spoke down of the leadership or Hawkon, or the whole concept of Mentra, they were punished. In creative ways, and in some cases, dark ways.

Behind the cliff of Mentra, where there's portions of flat ground amongst the elevated and hilly vicinity, were fenced off areas known as Isolation camps. These camps, to no surprise, were where people were sent to if they spoke negatively of the leadership/generally violated one of the policies more than twice, like the boundary one.

You only had to speak out against the regime once to be sent to the camps, but you had to have broken one of the policies of the regime more than two times to be sent to them. The regime took the strength of its cult of personality seriously, quite obviously, given that it's formed the basis of its power internally.

Luckily, it's rare for Mentranians to be sent to them given their awareness of the consequences should they speak out against the regime or constantly break the policies. As a result, these camps were more often used for the individuals who were found sailing near the waters of Mentra, or who've 'trespassed', as Mentra calls it.

And they do find these outsiders. Not too often, but they still come around every now and then. And if the outsiders are captured and imprisoned in these camps, they've pretty much sealed their doom.

It was horrifying, the way the regime punished its trespassers/the Mentranians who've spoken out against the leadership, or broken the policies. The type of 'creativity' that's used in the punishments were too much to explain, but just to give a tiny perspective, in all of the three camps, there was a massive, brown wooden building within the area of the fences that had what was known as an 'execution corner'.

Try and guess what that corner's used for. There were other ways that the regime performed its punishments, but that was one of them. They were brutal, every single one of the methods, to say the least.

As hinted at above, the camps consisted of a wide, open area cornered off by fences of wood and barbed wire, half the height of the borders around the island. Right at the front of the open areas were massive, one floor brown huts where all of those imprisoned would sleep. However, there were hardly any beds inside these huts. So in the past, when Mentra had multiple imprisonments, the vikings who were unfortunate enough to have become victims of it were forced to sleep on the hard, solid wooden ground.

In the open areas, the prisoners were forced to do things like push-ups, running around for hours, or holding heavy things in the air whilst being clothed up in some of the most thick gear known to viking history. The thick clothing was a deliberate choice by the regime, so the prisoners could sweat and therefore have a 'better chance' of collapsing from it.

The execution corner was situated in the right corner of every one of the huts, and whether or not prisoners die by deliberate starvation (the regime intentionally refuses to give the prisoners, when there's some in these camps, enough food to keep their hunger up), or being executed in the temple, was entirely up to those running the camps.

One thing was absolutely for certain; when you're imprisoned in the isolation camps, you aren't getting out ever again, and the regime made sure of that every single time.

It was therefore inevitable that should anyone be imprisoned, they'd die, one way or the other. And a few Mentranians have died from these camps in the past. That was why there was so much fear around the island, mainly coming from the regular Mentranians, (but not all of them due to enjoying their style of life under the regime due to not knowing any different), of accidentally breaking the policies or speaking out against the leadership.

In regards to the last part of the above paragraph, Mentranians could technically speak out against the leadership, but _only _when they were out of the vicinity of Defence force Mentranians. And there were about half a chunk of Mentranians who did occasionally, yet secretly, speak out against it.

It was another intention of the leadership to have these three deadly camps behind the cliff of the island. They didn't want the regular Mentranians seeing them constantly, and the camps lived up to their name of isolation camps much more, when they were entirely out of the view from the villages.

When Hawkon became leader a short while ago, he was briefed by all of his father's old advisers, where everything was, the ins and outs of Mentra's defence strength and weaponry, but he was also briefed on the existence of these three camps. And unfortunately for those who may be imprisoned in the future, Hawkon totally endorsed the camps and actually praised them for their purpose.

One part of his agenda, when he completes Mentra's defence program, is to review the isolation camps and create even more, and to toughen up the deliberately torturing style of life to the prisoners by those running the camps.

Hawkon had no hesitation or sympathies about the camps. In his perspective, they were the areas used to kill off the threats to his status and power over the Mentranian vikings. He could easily watch a prisoner starve to death and endorse such an action, he was that passionate about securing his position.

So should anyone be caught by Mentra in the future, and should any Mentranians speak out/generally violate the regime, they'll unfortunately be on the path to death.

Very very rarely, Mentranians who are sent to the camps may be given one final chance and released, but there's an emphasis on 'very very' because it hardly happens. But if you're an outsider who's 'trespassing', you're as good as dead.

Given that Mentra has signed a treaty pact with the Berserker tribe, it was secretly agreed between the Mentranian leader & the Berserkers that the Berserkers themselves would offer their assistance in the running of these camps. Their dangerous and aggressive traits were a perfect fit for the camps. That meant much more brutality, and Hawkon's intention of making life for the prisoners harder may have already been achieved due to having the Berserkers assist in the camps.

* * *

Hawkon the Second had something behind his back. Firmly surrounded on his left and right by his advisers, a pair of ancient-looking vikings, in thick, scale-looking and metal-covered gear, the space in front of him was filled up with a huge chunk of Defence force vikings, many of whom held their crossbows in a choreographed position, on their shoulders, as they remained in a saluted position towards their leader.

This militaristic moment was occurring within the vicinity of the three isolation camps, meaning they were all within the area behind the main cliff of the island. Hawkon wanted none of these vital, strength-showing rallies taking place where the regular Mentranians could see them, so he wanted to ensure, as it is now, his preparation rally with his Defence force Mentranians was in an isolated area.

It was darkening up, the moon started shining through the trees, and the cold air roamed around, coating up Hawkon in particular as he could see his own air of breath. He wasn't cold, though. He didn't feel the cold. He never did. He loved the coldness, in fact.

As apart of the pact Hawkon secretly agreed to with the Berserkers, there was a mixture of them amongst the choreographed, lined up defenders of Mentra. They were helping out with the program. Hawkon had all of the power in his hands, and commencing his first phase of the defence program, there was no holding back for the young, yet dangerously ruthless leader.

"Our chances have just changed. Here's our saviour of time..." Hawkon proudly declared, slowly revealing his hand from behind, holding it outwards for all of the Mentra defenders and Berserkers to see.

Holding a medium-sized vial of purple liquid, Hawkon chuckled, as did his advisers, at what it precisely was.

"This...is the liquid that our great enemy, Grimmel, had for himself. It knocks the vermin out, totally unconscious for a record amount of time. After ten whole years of trying to find the recipe, we didn't give up hope, knowing this specific venom came from the enemy's own flying vermin..many said it'd be impossible to replicate, but we have. Our venom has been tested, and within this vial, the very same venom is ready to knock them out for our benefit..." Hawkon proudly declared.

It was true. Because Hawkon's father, a decade ago, rebelled against Grimmel's men when the 'Night Fury killer' died, and won that rebellion, they gained access to many of Grimmel's old equipment and essentials, including a half-empty vial of Deathgripper venom at the time.

They kept that half-empty vial in the early days of the regime, to try and recreate it for themselves, but it became clear that creating a venom, an exact copy of the Deathgripper's, was impossible; they needed to create their own, using a similar recipe, whatever it was.

Plenty of research for the past decade on behalf of the regime, from the moment of its formation, on a possible recipe to replicate such a dangerous venom of a dragon, was with thorough effort. They used all sorts of things, from crushed eels and poison berries. Until finally, a recent time ago, the regime stumbled across the recipe that'd replicate a venom very similar to that of a Deathgripper.

Hawkon the Second was internally beaming with excitement. This venom was going to make this first phase of the program easy. They could knock out the dragons with it, chop their wings off whilst they're knocked out, and then move on with the forced breeding of the 'flying vermin' in order to get the eggs, and subsequently, the offspring.

"Be warned, defenders. Whilst we are able to now recreate this important liquid with ease, after a long period of finding the recipe, it is highly valuable. Not only is it going to contribute to our defence of the Mentranian paradise, it'll eventually be experimented with on the traitors of our island, we need to save some. Any misuse of this highly important liquid, as a result, due to the current rarity of it until our advisers and higher ups create more, will see consequences far beyond what your imaginations can cope with." Hawkon declared.

"On that note, when you all sail towards the destination island, be prepared to use this against the vermin to knock them out cold. Chop off their wings, get them together, get the eggs, finish them all off, and let them bleed to death from their cold, grotesque blood."

The Defence force vikings all saluted in a choreographed movement. The Berserkers maintained their position.

"YES, SIR!" they all yelled, crying out a roar of militaristic energy.

"You are doing this for the safety of our vikings, our people, our island...our sovereignty. If there's anyone out there, slaughter them. Conquer those who pose a threat to our ultimate goal of defence. Make them wish they were dead. I expect every single one of you, all of you, in your a hundred and over figures, to deliver for me. Get those eggs and destroy the vermin to complete phase 1."

Hawkon held his hands behind his back, his chin up.

"You're now all dismissed. Live up to our island's expectations...get this program commenced..." the 20 year old viking leader declared.

The Defence force held their crossbows down, and aggressively turned to the left. They marched with a choreographed movement, arms aggressively waving upwards and downwards as their stomps gave off a thunderous collision of bangs. As they marched past their leader, they saluted with their hands directly up against their foreheads, with Hawkon doing the same back to them as they all passed by him.

Hawkon proudly looked on. Nothing could get in his way now. His powers and his goals were endless. When this defence program is completed, he'll have the most secure power of any viking.


	6. Phase one

**CHAPTER 6: Phase one**

As their boats roamed through the calm waters of the morning light, the Mentranians, alongside the Berserkers, carefully identified the direction in which they were sailing. The fog was still a thing around this island, so they needed to be slow and precise.

Today was the regime's commencing of the defence program. And with phase one, the incoming task consisted of knocking out the remaining dragons on this island, using the newly-found venom shown to the Mentranians by their leader last night, and subsequently, chopping off the wings of the dragons so they can't escape, and forcing them to breed with other dragons to get the eggs and use the offspring for phase two.

Every single Mentranian wore an entirely black, scale-looking suit, with an overhead 'mask' covering that was also black and scale-looking, which was see-through for the Mentranians having their face covered. This was a fire-proof costume that the Mentranians could utilise should any of these dragons try to burn them up. To keep these tightened up, all of them had belts around their waists. Their boots were also black to keep the colouration in line.

What this meant now was a bunch of ruthless, unpredictable vikings without any expressions, and in turn, ruthless, unpredictable vikings whom you had no idea what they were thinking, and the imagination could only point to whatever their expressions were _under _those covers, leading to a terrifying type of aura from the Mentranians themselves.

Ten boats full of Mentranians and Berserkers were heading towards the island where the Red Death used to reside, and despite the fog, they were pretty confident that they were heading in the right direction. Each boat contained one Mentranian or Berserker right at the front, keeping a look out. Only two of the boats had the newly created venom. It was still something being pursued in bigger amounts by Mentra, so naturally there wasn't much of it to take out here this morning.

But it'd be more than enough assuming they could get a ton of dragons knocked out.

"We've got colour coming ahead. Keep yourselves steady." Guddorn warned, catching a glimpse of darkness ahead.

That darkness was emitting from the coal-like colouration of where they were aiming. They've managed to reach their destination. The scent of seaweed growing stronger seemed to imply they were nearing some sort of land, and the dusty, non-transparent, cold looking water gave off a dull vibe from the general atmosphere surrounding them all. But nonetheless, they were finally here.

"Slow us down a bit on the sails. Just even the slightest sound of a collision will scare them off." Guddorn, the leading Mentranian of the first phase, said, making a gesture towards his companions in the boat with his whole palm directly facing them.

They sailed forwards, all ten boats, for a few more seconds, before the fog dissipated, unveiling a rocky, giant mountain, with rock overhangs and giant boulders, looking like they were hit by a giant earthquake due to the majority of them lower down on the ground being in millions of pieces.

"Stop right here...stop...keep quiet...they'll be on the ground right about now.." Guddorn declared, turning himself down to a soft whisper.

All of the boats, on behalf of the folks on them respectively, slowed down right before making contact with the ground, that initially looked like it was nothing but millions of pebbles. But instead, it was just how the rocky surface looked with its patterns.

"Follow my lead. We don't want to potentially make them lose their positions...one by one, quietly, get off the boats."

Guddorn, ever so slowly, walked like he was balancing about ten thousand feet off of the ground on a thin pole. There was no time to admire the giant rocky mountain, with its overhangs stretching out with segments of rock that connected to the ground surface. They had a task to do.

Guddorn turned his back to the giant mountain, and glared at all of his companions slowly getting off of their boats.

"So here it is...the old 'palace' for the 'queen', hahaha..." a Berserker chuckled, in a whisper tone, referring to the Red Death as he quietly jumped off the boat.

Guddorn the Glorious, watching his companions finally land themselves onto the ground of this island, gestured for them all to stay where they were. The boats remained floating and bumping to the sides behind the vikings, all in the water. Pure silence was needed from this point on.

Guddorn was the Mentranian tasked with overseeing this initial phase of the program. It was in no doubt, therefore, that he was under extreme pressure. Hawkon's personally assigned him to this position, and if he slips up at all with it, who knows what the Mentranian leader will do to him?

Guddorn's title of 'The Glorious' was given to him by the late leader of Mentra, Hawkon's father, for the work and the efforts he's put into his defence of Mentra.

It was on that basis that Hawkon decided to assign him this role, and to provide him with a promotion in the form of a position within the leadership team. The main agenda with Guddorn, as a result, was to simply not make Hawkon angry, because that'd be dangerous for his life. He was viewed highly by this new leadership because of the old leader's perspective on him. They expected highly of him.

Guddorn was a Mentranian viking who was a firm believer in Hawkon as a leader, in the whole 'respect the leadership' routines constantly forced upon the Mentranians, and also in making sure the regime stays put for many years to come, beyond the decade it's already lasted, so he had a respectable reputation amongst the top Mentranians. It was his intention to live up to that reputation, and in the past he's proven to be a very formidable member of the Defence force.

"Bring forward the venom, both of you." Guddorn gestured, to two other Mentranians, in void black, fire-proof scaled gear.

They both walked on their tip toes to maintain a silence. The respective Mentranians with the vials, after a few seconds, approached Guddorn and reached into their gear to pull out the two valuable vials of Mentranian venom.

"They're intact. Wonderful." Guddorn whispered softly, "here's what we'll do. Give me one of your arrows, please?"

Both Mentranians reached into their gear again, and pulled out one crossbow arrow each. What Guddorn was about to demonstrate was precisely why the venom needed to be used to perfection.

"I only need one for the moment." Guddorn said.

After being handed an arrow, Guddorn gestured for one of the expressionless Mentranian defenders to give him their vial. The one on the left did so, handling the small glass with precision.

Guddorn placed the arrow into his armpit to make his hands free. Holding the vial up for everyone to see, including the Mentranians and Berserkers near the shores and the boats, he wanted the venom to have a spotlight of importance.

"Just a quick, tiny collection of venom onto this arrow is all it'll take for the intended outcome to work," Guddorn insisted, "once the venom blade hits their insides, they'll be knocked out like absolutely nothing."

Guddorn carefully took the lid off of the vial. The arrow was small enough to be dipped into the vial and into the venom. The idea was that the venom would catch onto the sharp blades of the arrow so it can be sent inside the dragons that they find, when they fire at them. The leader of phase one dipped the tip of the arrow into the vial, keeping it in there for a good few seconds as he glared back up at his companions. The crowd of Mentranian defenders and Berserkers in the background all crept on their toes to watch the process.

"The venom is sticking onto the blade like a covering." Guddorn observed, "precisely what we're looking for. Hand me one of your crossbows and I'll show you how it's done. There cannot be any complacency or half efforts when it comes to this first phase of our defence program."

Guddorn was given a crossbow by the Mentranian on the left. Carefully placing the lid back onto the vial and subsequently handing the vial back, Guddorn shoved the arrow into the slot of the crossbow and clicked it into place. A venom arrow was now ready to go.

"Keep yourselves low. Clear?" Guddorn insisted, turning to face the gigantic rocky atmosphere of the Red Death's old home island.

"Clear."

"Clear, sir."

"Clear."

"Very well. Let's move." Guddorn commanded.

Once they've shot a few dragons down, they'll set up camp here in order to potentially stay overnight to get many more dragons shot with venom. For this initial part, they couldn't set up camp at all, not until they've gained an idea of how possible it'll be to shoot dragons at the level they ideally wanted to.

"You got the baskets of fish?" Guddorn asked, forgetting a vital part of the mission; actually luring the remaining dragons here down to the ground.

"I don't move in a mission without our essentials, sir. Here it is." a Mentranian said, remaining off of the ground a few moments ago when Guddorn told everyone to get down.

Larick, the Mentranian defender with the basket of fish, tried to drag it as slowly and as quietly as possible. He and Guddorn were surrounded by fellow Mentranians on the ground on their bellies, making it harder for him to navigate towards Guddorn with the basket, but he got there in the end.

"They won't be turning down the chance to have a gobble at these, sir." Larick said, adjusting his belt within his gear.

"Very much so. Throw them all out to the open space in front of us, and when they hopefully fly down to gobble on them, we can stay put, quietly and still, until I give the signal to fire."

"On it, Guddorn sir." Larick proudly declared, getting straight to work with grabbing the cod, salmon and tuna amongst many others and tossing them as far as he could to the open space ahead.

The fog in the skies and the outsides of the island meant they couldn't quite see if any dragons were flying high above the giant rocky mountain, but the scent senses of the dragons should be able to pick up the fish to attract them to the ground, so not all hope was lost.

After a few minutes, Larick's whole basket, a massive pile of fish ranging from cod and tuna, was tossed out. They were all upon a huge pile, the fish, a distance away from the vikings themselves. Larick rolled the basket all the way down towards the boats. He pulled up his belt and clicked his own venom arrow into position in his crossbow before hitting the stone with his belly.

"Now, we wait. Don't move a muscle, men..." Guddorn said.

And the silence was on.

All they could hear was the steady wind. They all resembled statues on the ground from a distance, they were that silent and still. It was a bit spooky. Imagine being in a foggy area, and all you could see ahead was a bunch of black scale gear covered men on the ground, without a single movement?

* * *

"I wanna come with you!" Tuffnut declared, as Ruffnut suddenly shoved him to the side.

"No, I wanna come with you!" Ruffnut declared.

"Guys, when did I ever say anyone else was coming? this'll be a trip for the kids, they need to see our old home place without any hassles or struggles." Hiccup, sat besides Astrid on a nearby bench to his hut, said to the twins as they heard of the news of where Hiccup was going today.

"I can be a good babysitter, Hiccup?" Tuffnut interrogated, as he and his sister stood in front of Hiccup as he sat on the bench with Astrid, just near the middle of the colourful village of New Berk.

"I'd much rather have a yak watch Zephyr and Nuffink than you, Tuffnut, and like Hiccup said, it'll just be us, and hey, if your mum wants to come along Hiccup, she can?" Astrid said, turning to Hiccup as she nudged him.

"I dunno. I think she'd rather just relax and feel comforted in her safety after everything we've gone through. I'll ask her before we sail off I guess, but I doubt she'll wanna come." Hiccup shrugged, drinking from a wooden cup of fish soup.

"Don't you think I should be rewarded for the performance I did of you, Hiccup? in the pageant of Snoggletog?" Tuffnut asked.

"That was literally nothing like me, Tuff, I've already said no, give it a rest, haha." Hiccup chuckled, at Tuffnut's clear determination to come along to Old Berk later on today.

"You're one to lecture us both, Hiccup," Ruffnut intervened, "when your kids aren't even within your eye view. What parent are you?"

"Our kids are being taught independence, Ruffnut. That's the least I can say for you both. Why is it that whenever we see you both, you're always with each other, and not by yourselves?" Astrid said.

"And anyways, they're playing with their friends further ahead in the village. I know exactly where they are." Hiccup added.

"Actually, I've changed my mind, Hiccup. You don't know what's out there on the path to the old island, I for one will not sail into my end." Tuffnut said, bizarrely changing his mind for what sounded like a cop out reason.

"Aha, uh..." Ruffnut chuckled, as Astrid and Hiccup glared at her with raised eyebrows, "I'll do what he's doing, see ya..." she waved, quickly skipping back towards Tuffnut.

"How weird. I specifically said though Astrid, I just want it to be our family going there. The others can go to the island at a time when Zephyr and Nuffink aren't." Hiccup said, facing Astrid.

"I know. They're gonna enjoy this. Thinking about it though Hiccup, as illogical as Tuffnut is, what if he's onto something?"

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps I should have a quick sail towards the Old Island, just to memorise the path for when you and the kids come. We don't wanna get lost with them on the way, do we? Tuff's scared of getting lost as I'm sure he's just implied, but having no logic means he couldn't have thunk of the solution I've just done?"

"You know what...that actually sounds like a good idea, Astrid. When do you wanna do that?"

"Before we sail to the island with the kids obviously. It'll probably take me an hour or so to get back and forth."

"So you're gonna make sure we know where we're going before we sail there with the kids?" Hiccup asked.

"That'll literally be it. You look after them, I'll try and map out the general direction we'll wanna go for later, so I'll sail there, map out the directions, and come back here and we'll be on our way."

"Good thinking, Astrid, I do want this to go to plan for them both, so we'll need a good start." Hiccup said, nodding.

That seemed like a good idea on Astrid's behalf. They haven't been on Old Berk for a decade, so it'll be worthwhile mapping out the general direction towards the island for when Astrid herself comes back with Hiccup and the kids to go there.

And Astrid isn't intending on setting foot on the island by herself. She'll only do that when Hiccup and Zephyr with Nuffink are there. She wanted to experience the thrill of being on her old island physically for the first time in a decade, with her family.

"This just shows I'm a better thinker, Hiccup?"

"I'll let you off on that one, haha." Hiccup chuckled, getting up off of the bench, as did Astrid, to check on Zephyr and Nuffink amongst the roaming Berkians near this part of the village.

* * *

The silence was clear. But the fish have done their work.

"They're here...they're here..." Guddorn, ever so softly in his whisper, said, "stay absolutely still, guys..."

A couple of Gronckles, and a Monstrous Nightmare were at the piles of fish ahead. The Mentranians and Berserkers, in their camouflage gear, remained absolutely still on the ground. They could hear the roars and the vicious sounding steps of the dragons ahead. There seemed to be some friction between the Monstrous Nightmare and the Gronckles, to no surprise.

"Get your crossbows...they're totally distracted..." Guddorn softly whispered.

Everyone, shaking with anxiety at just how tense this was, raised their crossbows so they sat on the ground. One single movement detected by those dragons ahead could either lead to something bad or terrible.

"On my count, stab em..." Guddorn said, in the acknowledgement everyone had their crossbows out and aimed with venom arrows.

"One...two..."

The gap between two and three was pure silence, but the energy started building up.

"**THREE!**"

Their arrows fired, and the dragons were hit. Instantly, they all got up and charged directly towards the dragons as they tried to fly away, but the venom started kicking in. The rumbling steps of the combined charges of the Mentranians and Berserkers spooked the dragons, but their wings stopped flying, their visions went blank, and including the Monstrous Nightmare, they all collapsed wholeheartedly to the ground with a vicious bang like a miniature earthquake, in terms of sound and bumps of the ground.

"THEY'RE DOWN! THEY'RE DOWN! GOOD JOB MEN, VERY GOOD JOB, HOLD ONTO THEM FOR A MOMENT!" Guddorn yelled, as everyone dropped right down onto the tail of the Monstrous Nightmare to keep it from potentially flying away despite it being in a weakened state from the venom.

About five Mentranians sat on the tail of the Monstrous Nightmare whilst others rested themselves directly on the neck of it.

The other chunk of men firmly held down the heads of the Gronckles, both of whom had their eyes closed the second they thumped down with a bang to the ground once the venom in the arrow hit their insides.

"Very well done men, good work indeed. They're knocked out cold. Get the blades and let's remove their ability to fly away." Guddorn declared.

They all patted each other on the back as they held the heavy dragons on the ground, as the reptiles were knocked out into a sleep of unconsciousness.

Now, the Mentranians could start chopping off their wings in a way where the dragons wouldn't feel the pain due to not being awake. The venom worked exactly how the Mentranians intended.

Phase one was truly commenced, and it wasn't even the end of it yet.


	7. Preparing to sail

**CHAPTER 7: Preparing to sail**

By the title of this chapter you're probably thinking it's the preparation of Hiccup and Astrid, to sail to Old Berk, but actually, as the two of them agreed to in the last chapter, it was only Astrid. Her intent was to sail to Old Berk before tagging along with Hiccup and the kids, so she could map out the seas and the general direction to sail towards.

She agreed to this because she didn't want to get lost with the kids and Hiccup when they all sail together later on. That'd be the worst of all nightmares. Astrid doing this meant that, should it be successful, she, Hiccup, Zephyr and Nuffink would have less of a risk of getting lost on the open seas on the way to the old island.

Inside the hut, Astrid, wearing more gear than usual, was studying the old map Hiccup used to carry around during their time on the old island. The Barbaric Archipelago map, to be specific. It'd give her a head start in finding which direction from New Berk to sail towards. Plus, it always carried with it a vibe of nostalgia. Just seeing Old Berk's image in the middle of the Archipelago prompted a brief return to the past in her mind.

She made markings in the form of dots on the map to conclude where she'll most likely end up when he sails to the island.

"You're awfully quiet Astrid?" Hiccup said, gathering a few supplies from around the hut for Astrid to take on her journey imminently.

"I'm trying to pin down where exactly I need to be heading, Hiccup."

Hiccup walked up to her from the side, glaring his eyes at the Archipelago map as well on the wooden table.

"You'd usually boast at this point of how smart you are, how organised...where's your confidence, eh?" Hiccup chuckled.

Astrid stomped her boot right onto Hiccup's other leg, prompting him to echo a brief yell. He backed up straight away as he hopped.

"Might not be boasting, but that's certainly what happens when you try to boast to me of your confidence. I'll reward you with an elbow if you continue?" she chuckled.

"God Astrid, I was only joking, jeez, that really hurt..." Hiccup said, slowly leaning on his metal leg to pat his other one from the pain.

Astrid nodded to herself and chuckled. As she returned to studying the map, marking certain bits of it with black dots, Zephyr and Nuffink came rushing inside the hut. The two of them looked tired, having ran around the entire village for the entirety of the last half hour with their friends.

"Hey dad, I saw Toothless again!" Zephyr yelled.

"It's true, he was right there in the skies!" Nuffink subsequently joined in.

"What, really?" Hiccup gasped.

"GOT YOUUU!" Zephyr laughed, as her little brother seemed more reluctant to laugh, and in fact, he felt quite bad for joking about it, getting his dad's hopes up.

Hiccup placed his palms over his face, slowly dragging them downwards and off his beard. Astrid looked at Zephyr as she laid the joke out entirely.

"Don't do that to me Zeph, my heart just stopped beating for a moment." Hiccup nodded, not looking impressed.

"Sorry, I just can't get it out of my head that I saw him during the show...he looked amazing and shiny."

"Can't we visit them agaaaaiiinnn?" Nuffink asked, with an extended end to his question.

"We won't be, but your mum's gonna go and visit the area we're heading to later on. Come on over to the table kids and get a look at this." Hiccup said, gesturing with his hands for Zephyr and Nuffink to come over to the wooden table.

The two of them walked their way towards their mum, as Astrid flattened out the map.

At first glance, Zephyr thought the map was nothing more than an impressive-looking work of art.

"Wow, did you draw this, mum? I can't imagine dad doing something like this?" Zephyr said.

"It's a map, Zephyr. It's a map of the Barbaric Archipelago, the area where our old island is. Look at this one in the middle..." Astrid pointed to Old Berk's image in the middle, "this is where we used to live when we were teenagers."

"Map of the what?" Nuffink shrugged, confused at the name of the Archipelago.

"It's where the old Berk is, Nuffink," Hiccup said, placing his fingers down to the map this time, "on this island here is where we managed to find the Red Death, it was this huge, dangerous mighty old dragon that used the others that attacked us at the time as slaves, if they didn't bring her enough food, she'd eat them up in one bite. She was the Queen of the dragons."

"Wow..." Zephyr said, looking back down at the map.

"But don't be thinking that that'd be a dragon you'd wanna ever see, Zeph, it was killed ages ago by me and Toothless, but if it was alive, it'd dwarf this island and Old Berk, and it'd...well, you know." Hiccup shrugged.

"Why do you have this map out?" Nuffink asked.

"Because I'm sailing to the old island today, kids. Just to make sure that when we properly sail to the old island later on with us all, not just me, we'll have a predetermined sense of direction to sail towards, so we don't get lost." Astrid said.

"Ohh. What will it look like?" Zephyr, genuinely gaining curiosity of Old Berk due to the prospect that she'll be taken to it later on, asked.

"It's been empty and dead for a decade, Zeph, nobody's been on it since we had to evacuate due to Grimmel at the time. But apart from a few collapsed huts and structures from the time...well, you know what...I guess it'll be mostly the same?" Hiccup said.

"I'll verify that assessment Hiccup. I think I'm ready to get going." Astrid nodded, adjusting her gear and the supplies she had on her.

"So we're coming later on then?" Nuffink asked.

"Yeah. I'm only gonna sail there to work out a path we can sail on for when we actually go there and set foot on it, so we don't get lost. I'm not gonna be setting foot on it by myself."

"Your mum's doing this for our safety, aren't you Astrid?"

"We ought to change your name to Hiccup the Horrendous Captain Obvious." Astrid said.

"Ahem, yeah, she's doing it for our safety." Hiccup coughed.

Astrid gathered the map and rolled it up, placing it firmly in one of the steel belts on her gear. She, Hiccup, and the two kids walked outside of the hut and to the front of it, initially glancing across at the village as they checked the weather.

"You know what, given that we've just had Snoggletog, it's been fairly calm hasn't it?" Hiccup, surprised at the somewhat cold, yet calm atmosphere of the grey-looking weather, said.

"It'll be perfect for me to go now then." Astrid declared.

"Wait, should I get my mum to try and come with you, Astrid? you'll be all alone out there?" Hiccup, having last minute guilts about Astrid going out by herself, uttered.

"I'll be fine Hiccup, I'm as tough as they come after all. Who, with one hand, bounced a battleaxe off of your chest years ago? I did. This won't take long at all." she assured Hiccup.

"Mum, how long will you be?"

Astrid looked at Zephyr and Nuffink. She knelt down to her knees to get to their height.

"Listen, it'll only be an hour, I've had tougher experiences than this. I'm doing this because I want the both of you to experience the place we used to live at, it's a place of memories and the past. I promise, I'll be fine, okay?" Astrid said, "at the end of the day later on, it'll all be worth it."

She embraced Zephyr and Nuffink with a huge hug.

Hiccup secretly felt worried, but at the same time, he knew he had no reason to be. Astrid has always been one of the toughest of the Berkians, in the past and to the present day. She'll cope with sailing to the old island for the first time in a decade by herself just smoothly.

Astrid got up, and turned to face Hiccup.

"Alright, let's get on the contraption to get to the shores and I'll be on my way." Astrid said.

Hiccup nodded, and, with Zephyr and Nuffink, they began walking towards the wooden contraption lift that allowed vikings to be lowered from the gigantic heights of New Berk to the ground shores. It was time to sail to Old Berk.

* * *

Mentra itself was busy today. That wasn't a surprise, given the island always had the same routine for its vikings and the workers employed by the Mentranian leadership. Some of the younger Mentranian vikings were playing together near the huts of their parents, and they genuinely looked happy, despite the strict environment they were trapped within. They were, of course, staying within their boundaries in the midst of their playing.

Maybe the youth vikings of Mentra embraced the lifestyle.

But whilst regular Mentranians worked as the regime oversaw another busy day involving fishing, hunting, and Defence force vikings patrolling to ensure nobody was trespassing into other boundaries across the island, the defence program was being reported on by the secretive Mentranian associates with the program itself. Specifically, Guddorn was back on Mentra to report the progress to one of Hawkon's adviser vikings.

They were within a building well out of the reach and vicinity of the Mentranian village. It was elevated upwards on the cliff in the middle of the island.

Hawkon couldn't be in attendance due to his priorities taking him to the other side of Mentra, mainly the matter of wooden, barbed wire borders. That was why Guddorn had to report to the adviser Mentranian instead, who'll then report progress back to Hawkon himself.

"Have you set up camp at that island?" the adviser asked, sat opposite Guddorn inside the isolated hut, writing down notes.

"Now we have. We've got a healthy amount of fellow defenders working at it."

"In regards to the defenders, have you caught or injected any dragons so far, with our venom?"

"We've managed to take down two Gronckles, one Monstrous Nightmare and a few more have been attracted to the ground as a result of seeing those initial dragons down and out. As we speak, sir, those dragons are having their ability to fly removed, in the way we agreed to. The venom on our crossbows have worked exactly as they were intended to."

"Good, good. Sounds like progress on phase one is exceeding expectations. I assume our great leader will be pleased with this. Our great leader's also asked me to run you down on what phase two is going to entail, and it's the phase that'll run into the long term, whereas this first one will probably end within the week."

"We know the summary of it at least, sir." Guddorn insisted.

"Here's the substance of it all. And this is information that must be kept private, we don't want it being spread out to our fellow vikings working hard in the village. Our Berserker allies are clearly boosting our successes in this program, I have to say, and equally, just as a reminder, any word of that pact must be kept private from the Mentranian people. In regards to phase two, the main summary is that we're going to force the non-flying dragons to breed together, thereby creating offspring that we can take for ourselves, and then dispose of the dragons that we used to get them. The substance of it is that the offspring will then, from the moment they hatch, be cemented into a permanent training program, getting used to being around humans, and all the tricks will be given to them, amongst many other training aspects. The idea behind phase two is to make the offspring, when they're bigger, totally tamed dragons that'll obey our command and become Mentranian dragons."

Guddorn nodded.

"These Mentranian dragons are what our dear late founder had been aiming towards from the moment he began preparing this defence program before his time unfortunately came, and they're the end goal of the program. When we have defender Mentranian dragons, our island's sovereignty will not only be secured, but we'll have a major deterrent at our disposal, to fend off any islands looking to destroy our system of life."

"I've got all the confidence in the world at our prospects, sir."

"I agree. A dragon deterrent whereby all of the reptiles will be fully obedient and trained up to defend The Viking's Mentra will grow to have the strength equivalent of what they used to call the Red Death, the so-called 'queen' of the dragons back in the day. Anybody who dares invade us with such a deterrent will have fire upon their fleshes with the use of said deterrent."

Holy smokes. A dragon deterrent in the ownership of the Mentranian regime? where they're claiming it'll gain the strength equivalent of a single Red Death? given phase one of the program has been successful partly in thanks to the Berserker pact and an experienced team of Mentranians, this program could very well culminate in one of the most dangerous deterrents coming to fruition, to threaten the Archipelago.

"We'll finalise these plans at the end of the week when phase one is completed and we've forcefully bred enough of the flying vermin to get the offspring. Keep up the good work and the great leader will surely award you all." the adviser to Hawkon the Second said, nodding with a proud looking expression.

"Thank you sir, we'll make Mentra the most secure, non-attackable island of sovereign security with this future deterrent. We can make it happen and that is what I intend on doing." Guddorn stated.

Mentra had the venom already, showcasing its strength and determination, and it was now making progress, despite being in the early stages of said program, towards the end goal of having a dragon deterrent to kill off the regime's internal paranoia of safety not just for its sovereignty, but also its leader in Hawkon.

And Astrid was sailing on her way to all of this, unknowingly of course. God help her.


	8. Unrecognisable

**CHAPTER 8: Unrecognisable**

Astrid's boat was on the waters. On it she had her supplies and the map of the Barbaric Archipelago. New Berk's tall, mountainous, asteroid-looking structure was still within the vicinity. She briefly looked back at the island to study the outsides. Seeing just the significant height and structure of the island made her realise how high up they've all been living for the past ten years.

But that was a good thing in her view. It meant that they were fully safe from anybody that wanted to cause harm.

Astrid was expecting to spend about an hour or two on the seas on her sailing trip to the old island. She was more than happy to do that, given she's going to be in a fairly calm and relaxing atmosphere, where soothing wind will blow. But the scent of seaweed wasn't going. There were a few grey clouds surrounding a decent portion of the sky, but they weren't grey enough to the point it looked like it was going to rain.

No matter the grey colouration around here on the seas, from the skies to the distance, because Astrid was going to enjoy this trip as much as she could. She was already starting to add a few more dots onto her Archipelago map on the one wooden table her boat had.

She had already adjusted the sails on the boat, to flow in the direction she wanted to move.

Now that she was fully on her way, she was starting to contemplate the prospect of actually stepping onto the old island for the first time in a decade when she gets there in an hour. She was getting tempted. She recalled that Grimmel had pretty much caused major destruction to it when they needed to evacuate ten years ago, but apart from that, the island should still be in good shape.

She was particularly keen in checking out the old Great Hall, a place that's historical in the minds of the Berkians. Astrid was also assuming that some of the huts and houses were still intact, and if so, she'll want to check them out.

When the prospect of meeting nostalgia and history head on becomes a very real possibility, you usually can't back out from doing it, and that was what Astrid was going through right now.

The soothing winds blew in Astrid's hair, as her boat gently waved along the waters of the deep seas. New Berk's massive, mountainous structure was still in sight, showing that her journey was only just getting started. The coldness of the winds bounced off of her thick strong gear of metal, and the more the wind grew, the more the covered up, shielded senses came to her.

"They're gonna love this..." she said to herself, carefully placing her hands on the sides of the boat, leaning her chest halfway over the side, her head straightened up with a smile of excitement for the reactions of Zephyr and Nuffink later on at seeing the old island; she just couldn't wait to see their faces.

The scent of seaweed started weakening, replacing it was a colder, thicker form of basic wind with no scent, where it was basically just rushing into Astrid's nostrils whenever it blew. She continued to look outwards, her eyes as focused as a predator eyeing up its prey, her hands gripped onto the sides of the boat like her life depended on it, and her mouth closed in the solemn look she now had, to avoid the dry, dull, icy taste of the wind making its way inside it.

She rapidly ducked her hand into her gear and pulled out the map again. Astrid was using as much memory as possible to recall the direction they initially flew to New Berk from, when they had to evacuate with the dragons at the time, in order to work out if she was heading in the right direction to Old Berk.

"This should be okay..." Astrid contemplated to herself, in the midst of yet another soothing session of wind.

The Archipelago map caused her to glare for a bit longer than usual. Just seeing Old Berk's picture in the middle of the Archipelago once again prompted a brief visit to the past when she was a teenager with Hiccup back in the day. Her head was like a treasure of memories.

And it was on that notion that she couldn't wait to get to Old Berk. She couldn't wait for Zephyr and Nuffink to see it later on as well. As a mother, it'll make her feel proud of the fact that she'll be showing her two kids her old place of living.

And most importantly, the island where all of the dragons lived amongst the Berkians at the time. Astrid already had a plan in mind for later on with the kids. She wanted to take them to the old forest of the island, and subsequently, to the historical cove, the place where Hiccup initially met Toothless, and the place where the boy at the time and the dragon bonded to eventually create a friendship that'd spawn history.

Astrid slowly retracted the map and rolled it up, slotting it firmly back into the gear. She walked up to the wooden pole holding the sail of the boat and adjusted the ropes, to change direction a bit. Her memory was telling her that it wasn't straight ahead, but rather, in a diagonal direction from New Berk. The soothing wind crashed into the sails, causing the boat to slowly shift in direction.

"This'll be a piece of cake..." Astrid confidently uttered, as she gripped upon the ropes of the sails.

She's written a note on the bottom of the Archipelago map reminding her of which direction to head back in should she get lost out in the open seas here. So she was completely safe and sound on this initial trip.

* * *

"And there she goes..." Hiccup said, sighting Astrid's tiny boat all the way from the edge of New Berk.

He was dangerously close to the edge, hence why he was without Zephyr or Nuffink. That was linked to safety issues. If it wasn't for the contraption, where it lifts vikings up and down from New Berk's upper ground, they'd be useless in making a proper living out of New Berk.

Hiccup watched the tiny brown colouration of Astrid's boat sail into what looked like fog in the distance. Maybe because he was so high up, it looked like there was fog when in reality there wasn't anything of the sort.

Hiccup took a few steps back. Even though he was on solid ground, seeing just how high he was made him feel like he had slipped. He wasn't scared of heights at all, given his history of constantly flying upon dragons, 95% of the time with his best friend in Toothless. How he wishes he could do that again, more often.

"So she's off?" Valka, emerging from within the soil-scented forest behind Hiccup said.

"Yeah, but I feel awful. She insisted to me that she'd be okay going out by herself, but looking on from here, it looks like a gigantic journey mum, I dunno if I should get on a boat of my own and try to catch up with her..." Hiccup said.

"I'm sure she meant it, son."

Valka stood besides Hiccup as the two looked out at the gigantic heights.

"She's always been a tough cookie, hasn't she? she must've really meant it given how much she was repeating herself over it, Hiccup. You won't need to worry." Valka insisted.

"Well yeah, I suppose. But the kids might miss her as well, it's just the tiniest of things that're really biting at me here."

"They've got you. And speaking of them both, they're at the village, I left them with Eret and the rest, that's okay isn't it?"

"Yeah, we'll head back in a minute anyways."

Mother and son glared out, as the scent of soil and grass rushed rampant into their nostrils from the forest and trees.

"If this works, mum, I really think it'll leave a lasting image on the kids." Hiccup said, sparking up a happier mood.

"How so, son?"

"Well, I think they'll be excited at seeing where we used to live. It'll give them a uh...you know, a little history lesson I suppose. Do you want to come with us?"

"Oh no, Hiccup, I'll be fine. I'm not particularly a huge fan of travelling on the waters now that we don't have our dragons with us." Valka said, crossing her arms.

"That sounds fair. Shall we head back, mum?" Hiccup said.

"Sure."

As they turned their backs to the edge, walking further into the roofed forest and a stronger scent of nature, with puddles of water heaped upon random areas of the forest from the melting snow, Hiccup and Valka continued talking to each other.

"So yeah, it'll give them a nice ol' history lesson. It's a shame you weren't around for when I first found Toothless, mum."

"It was a shame indeed. When I look at Zephyr and Nuffink now son, I just recall not being around to see you grow from a babe up to the point I saw you 20 years later, when you and Toothless arrived in the Bewilderbeast's lair."

"But on the other hand mum, you were already making history by establishing a close companionship with dragons. Even before I did with Toothless, actually, haha." Hiccup said.

"Still, I wish I could've been around. But Zephyr and Nuffink are the spitting image of you Hiccup, I can't believe it. They'll not only enjoy the trip you're taking them on later with Astrid, they'll be beautiful young vikings when they get older." Valka said, smiling at Hiccup as the two of them walked.

"They get it from me, don't they?" Hiccup chuckled.

"And me and Astrid, don't forget that as well, Hiccup." Valka said, smiling again.

It was nice for Hiccup to have some personal time with his mum. Valka equally loved spending some personal time with her son. She was genuinely proud of how he's turned out, how Zephyr and Nuffink have turned out, and she's optimistic for their future. Despite the tragic outcome with Stoick, Valka's kept strong, as has Hiccup, and as a result, it's all led to this, and Valka couldn't have asked for a better son and family.

But in moments like these, it'd be even nicer if the dragons were all out from The Hidden World, amongst the Berkians like it was back in the day during the time on Old Berk, prior to Grimmel. That was the general feeling going around some of the vikings of New Berk anyways.

* * *

Barrod, the Mentranian fisherman with a good reputation amongst the Defence force, had his rod cast out into the waters surrounding the boardwalk. He, alongside his fellow Mentranian fishermen, was in his element in this job. Ahead, from the boardwalk, there was a huge group of Defence force Mentranians coming up to it. A checkup of the quota was clearly due. There were some regular Mentranians staying near the front of their houses and huts with their children.

The island was, as per usual, loud with a bunch of Mentranians talking with each other in their boundaries, their children playing within their boundaries with fellow children, and just generally the whole island following their strict routines under the regime. The children playing weren't in the regime's schooling sessions just yet, hence them being here and not at the old over-caged-with-metal-bars, dome-like arena, where the regime undertakes those schooling sessions.

Something was different about their brown clothing, however, including the child Mentranian vikings. There was an outline of a face, like a tiny logo, situated on the top left of their gear, in bright white paint. That face was the outline of the late founder and previous leader of Mentra. The regime wants to make its next agenda a reality; strengthen its cult of personality leadership.

That's starting with having every single Mentranian, including the children, having a small outline of Hawkon's father painted onto their gear, kind of like a badge, to signal their firm respect, gratefulness, and worshipping of not just Hawkon's father, but also Hawkon himself.

Like the requirement of every Mentranian to have portraits of Hawkon's father in their huts and houses, having this little outline of Hawkon's father on their gear was equally a requirement. And from this point on, anybody who doesn't have it will seriously face the consequences.

You might be wondering why nobody's rejecting the regime's changes. At least a chunk of the regular Mentranians, contrary to what you may think, actually enjoy having a strict life style imposed upon them, even if that meant having to go to extreme, over-the-top procedures to show respect and admire the leader(s) of the lifestyle and the island. To those who didn't mind, they couldn't imagine not having this lifestyle, because if they didn't have it, they felt that they wouldn't know what to do, and they wouldn't feel like they'd be of any use to anything, and they'd feel lost.

Of course, the very same Mentranians, as mentioned in the past, speak out in private against the regime's punishing cult of personality, but they equally put up with it to embrace, somewhat at least, the lifestyle that gives them something to do every day.

"Men, put down your rods for a minute. We need a verification check." A defence force Mentranian, with a crossbow on a slot on his back gear, said.

Barrod slowly placed his rod down, after winding it back in. As always, he wanted to make a good impression to the defenders, as did every other fishermen on this boardwalk.

"We're now obliged to pay our respects and gratitude to our great late father by wearing his presence. We're just quickly going to make sure you're all doing just that. Remain totally still for us whilst we all check for our late father's presence on your gear." the defender said, with three others coming out from the group to join him.

This meant there were now four defenders, and they were all split up evenly to check on the fishermen's gear.

Two defenders were going to check the fishermen's gear on one side, and two others were going to check the fishermen on the other. The regime needed to ensure its vikings were fully upholding their gratitude and respect to its lost founder.

Whilst the regime was tightening its cult of personality upon its people, a particular somebody was sailing her way to the island, and basically, to her doom.

* * *

Astrid had been sailing for a solid hour at this point, and she saw the outline of Berk from its cliff; she couldn't believe it, she was genuinely in awe at the sight of the old island for the first time in a decade. So she was heading in the right direction after all.

"Oh my god, it's here!" Astrid said to herself, leaning outwards at the front of the boat to catch a decent glare of the island, but something wasn't quite right with it.

And even though she glared at the thing that didn't seem quite right, she still was internally buzzing up and down as her heart beat increased significantly, from the excitement of actually managing to get to the old island.

Very quickly her energetic smile turned into confusion.

"Hold on...what?" Astrid questioned to herself, as she, sailing closer to the island, caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a tall colouration of brown circling the entire island from its shores, it looked like a huge border of some sorts.

That was never there when she and the rest evacuated ten years ago.

And there were three boats that were sailing within close distances of each other, like they were patrolling the nearby waters of Old Berk. Astrid was utterly confused, so much so that when it became clear to her that the island was actually inhabited from what she could tell, her heart gave a thumping ache.

Her boat got closer to the other three.

"What's going on here?" Astrid, utterly confused with shock, asked once again.

Her eyebrows were crunched-looking, her mouth was open as she was confused in a maze of shock. She needed to investigate the island...where did all of these people come from, most importantly, what's happened here? the last thing Astrid was expecting was a discovery that Old Berk was now the home of what was clearly people.

She quickly looked back to the direction she sailed in from, contemplating whether to not bother with trying to ask these people on the island what was going on, and where they all came from.

"Should I go back and tell Hiccup?" Astrid said, feeling her chest ache again at the heavy shock of her discovery.

Old Berk had a huge wooden border around it, and quite evidently, new people living on it, but why...when did this happen, and where did they all come from? Astrid genuinely wasn't expecting to see the island like this, she thought that it was abandoned ever since the Berkians all left it a decade ago.

She went with her gut instinct, and continued sailing forwards to Old Berk, and in turn, towards those three boats.

As she neared, there wasn't a single glimpse of the painted houses or huts from when everyone was last on Old Berk, and, most shockingly, there wasn't a single greenness, apart from the cliff, of a forest or trees...Old Berk simply didn't look like Old Berk anymore, which, upon Astrid realising that the forest wasn't there anymore, and instead, it was simply a huge collection of huts and houses, all in brown, in its place, contributed to her somewhat horrified shock.

"HEY, EXCUSE ME GUYS?!" Astrid yelled, from the front of her boat, towards the other three as she neared the island.

The three boats, which were Mentranian patrolling boats, had three Defence force Mentranians on each of them, and as soon as they heard what sounded like a woman yelling at them, they glared towards the direction they heard it from, and they instantly saw a brown boat with a white sail heading towards their sovereign island.

"Sir, there's a boat heading right for us, it's a girl, evidently screaming. It's a foreigner."

"That's not just a foreigner, it's a trespasser, it's an outsider. We'll sail up to it very calmly and then at the moment we get the chance, we'll climb onto the boat and we'll pin the foreigner down and be on our way with the scum."

"All on me, men. Sail towards the foreign boat in a calm manner as to not let it get away. Our great leader has tasked us with greatly punishing anyone who dares to enter Mentra who's foreign and an outsider, you understand?"

These Mentranians were wearing the same gear the Mentranians working on the defence program on Dragon Island wore; a black, dragon scale-like overhead cover that was see-through for them, whereby their faces were covered, looking like expressionless fanatics, and even more dangerously, as apart of the regime's experimental run with its newly created venom, these patrolling Mentranians had that very same venom on them.

"Wholeheartedly, sir, adjusting our sails now.."

Astrid saw that the three boats were making their way towards her, prompting her to shout out to them again.

"EXCUSE ME, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Astrid yelled.

She saw that the people on these boats, as the boats came into touching distance of each other, had nothing but black, scale-robe looking masks or something on them...it prompted her to gulp and to go through yet another thumping heart attack.

The Mentranians caught a glimpse of the blonde foreign outsider, and they, walking towards Astrid's boat as theirs were side-by-side with hers, unleashed their crossbows from their backs.

"What's going on here?" she asked again, but to no response, but instead, just nine, blank looking figures.

The three Mentranians, who's boats were closest to Astrid's, leapt over and onto her boat, and rushed right over to her, knocking her down and pinning her down to the ground by her cheek, as they forcefully pressed her face against the ground.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! GET OFF OF ME!" Astrid yelled, but to no success; the Mentranians had her on the ground firmly.

She tried to struggle as she felt one of their hands hurting across her head as he held her cheek first against the wooden ground of her boat. Being a strong viking, she got her free hand up and sent it right into the blank, black overhead cover of the Mentranian, causing him to lose his grip on her, and-

An arrow was shot right into her elbow from behind, as soon as she stood back up after attacking the Mentranian who had her down. Straight away, her vision went blank, her body lost its physical senses, and her mind switched off. Astrid collapsed harshly onto the ground as the venom was sent into her insides.

The Mentranian who shot her got a pat on the back by the one standing besides him. The reason why those two didn't initially help the one who held Astrid down just now, subsequently getting attacked in his face by her, was because they were quickly trying to get the venom onto their arrows to fire at Astrid, it took them some time to get it right, and they were rushing it, causing them to make a ton of mistakes that made them slower.

But they've got her. And now, Astrid will inevitably be off to the isolation camps of Mentra.


	9. Second in command

**CHAPTER 9: Second in command **

The giant hall within the other half of the Mentranian village, the one Hawkon made his intentions clear as leader in before being sworn in as leader, once again had its vicinity evacuated and made empty for the sake of Hawkon's paranoia. As a result, not a single Mentranian viking was near the hall externally, but instead, a huge number of Defence force Mentranians guarding it from all sides on the outside.

He was back inside the giant hall, a hall that's generally been used for important statements and or announcements/meetings, and that's exactly what Hawkon's using it for right now.

He was once again surrounded by his adviser team, and a whole chunk of Defence force Mentranians, many of whom were sat on wooden chairs with their crossbows on the cold stone floor of the hall.

Hawkon's announcement was in light of the confidence he's picked up from the amazing progress his regime is making on phase one on the Defence program. He placed both his palms on either side against the wooden podium and gave a glare to every single defender in the giant room.

He adjusted his tight gear and his scale-like cloak, looking to all of his fighters for Mentra.

"Thank you all for once again attending this. I've decided to shake up the way we run our island, specifically, in a way where more of these meetings can take place amongst you all, and with me being at the forefront of them. This is all in line with the amazing progress our men have been making on the defence program." Hawkon nodded, his voice echoing in a silent atmosphere.

"I've been hearing loads of optimistic things. Our sovereign people have successfully been working hard at phase one of our program, which'll ensure that we can move straight on to phase two at the end of the week. A deterrent of obedient flying vermin is exactly what we need in this age of uncertainty and those who want to cause harm for no reason whatsoever."

"And I reiterate. When we acquire such a deterrent, we will not negotiate, we will not surrender, and we certainly won't put up that deterrent onto the table. There'll not even be a table to put them on, as a matter of fact. My focus is protecting our sovereign land, and that focus I will turn into action."

A brief applaud came from his defenders, to which Hawkon emitted 'thank you' under them with another nod. After the applause died down, the Mentranian leader moved on.

"We need a collective decision making body. Especially in light of our progress. And so, I will be seeking to form the Mentranian overseers party, whereby each member of said party will be expected to attend meetings in disclosed locations on our island, led by my top team. These meetings will look at the issues facing our island, what proposals need to be put into place, and most importantly, any external threats facing us." Hawkon declared.

The defenders nodded with surprise; that sounded like an amazing idea on paper.

"I will personally be assigning the members of this party, and occasionally I'll be checking up on these meetings to learn what was brought up, what issues you think are our biggest, and what threats we could be facing. Do not take this responsibility lightly should you be chosen for a spot in it. And most importantly, show absolutely no complacency in your decisions. I'll be looking for the upmost effort every time."

"Let's come together on this vital moment in our history, and let's take it with open hands, thank you all very much." Hawkon finished, to a massive applaud from the Defenders of Mentra, and his advisers.

Whilst Hawkon takes in the applause, it's worth saying that in reality, the 'Mentranian overseers party' won't have that _much_ power in decision making, because Hawkon can just overturn anything they come up with in a split second. But Hawkon wanted this party to be a thing still, so he can provide some internal stability within his regime.

And to also make it look like he's not a one-person leader in the eyes of the regular Mentranian vikings, when, despite him looking to form the 'Mentranian overseers party', he still is and will be after the party's formation. It's a trick to make him look less dictatorial.

* * *

Astrid, slowly regaining her consciousness, felt her arms forcefully held up on what felt like some sort of strong rope. Her wrists were wrapped around the rope. It was that strong that it was able to hold her up for the duration of her being knocked out. She could barely open her eyes; despite the venom wearing off, it was still rampant in her, which was why she struggled to fully open her eyes and regain her physical senses.

But looking up as much as she could, she made out what looked like metal chains from above her, both chains on her left and right coming from the wall she was directly against, as her wrists were firmly attached to the cold metal. Her head felt heavy with a pounding ache, she could barely feel her legs, and whenever she moved her fingers, she had a pins and needles sensation.

Looking around her environment as she still struggled to maintain her hurting eyes, she was in a wide, empty brown room, in which there was absolutely no form of windows or openings in the walls. The door was clearly locked from the outside. She, groaning in tiredness as she maintained herself, turned to what looked like dried up red paint in a circle shape on the left wall. She had no idea what that red paint in a circle shape meant.

That circle, actually, was apart of the execution corner these isolation camp buildings have. Luckily for Astrid, she wasn't chained up to that side, yet anyways.

She glared down at the brown, dull floor, and as she did, she discovered something that she couldn't feel at all due to the venom still being rampant, despite weakening slightly; she was wearing not the attire she had when she sailed towards Mentra (or, as she still sees it, Old Berk), but instead, a much thicker, dragon-scale looking set of gear that was as thick as a stuffed hay bale. She didn't realise it until now that her gear was significantly different.

She couldn't think clearly enough whilst the venom, shot into her when the Mentranian who did it sent the arrow with it into her elbow, was still as strong as it was. She wished in fact that she never woke up. All she could remember, in a nutshell, was sailing on her boat, to being tackled down by a bunch of expressionless fanatics, and then suddenly, everything blackening out, and waking up to this.

The part she didn't remember of course, was when she was shot in the elbow with the arrow with the Mentranian venom, leading to her instantly collapsing.

The whole room was empty in sound, it felt like she was trapped in some sort of purgatory, it was that empty and window-less. However, a couple of voices could be heard, ever so slightly in Astrid's hearing senses, talking directly outside the door. And then, suddenly, the door could be heard opening up, and when it was slammed open, a huge gust of sun light came rushing into Astrid's eyesight, her eyes hurting like she hasn't been in the sun for years because of how isolated this building was.

A couple of Mentranian guards, not the same ones who shot her with the venomous arrows on her boat, walked up to Astrid's chained up-by-the-arms body. One remained stood by the door, as the sunlight continued to make Astrid's eyes ache, whilst the other raised up his crossbow whilst standing directly in front of Astrid. He sent the crossbow pelting into the cheek of Astrid, releasing a stinging pain the second the thunderous bang occurred from the pelt.

"WAKE UP!" the Mentranian guard viking yelled, prompting Astrid's senses to ever so slightly raise up.

Her face being harshly slammed by the crossbow led to a burning pain on her cheek, and like it was swelling up. That was how the Mentranians worked; no mercy for outsiders, after all.

"Somebody wants to see you. He says he's got a bit of history with you, and he's also our second in command, just below our great father and leader in Hawkon the Second. You will show respect to him when he comes in here as a result, foreigner." the Mentranian who whacked Astrid with the crossbow face-first uttered, chuckling as he stepped back near the door.

As that Mentranian stepped back, another figure came in through the sun light from the door. Walking into the isolation camp building that Astrid's been asleep in from the venom for a long time, his gear matched that of Hawkon, albeit a few changes, to not having a cloak, and to it being lighter than Hawkon's. However, his hair was darker, and he had a baby face. But this baby face Mentranian was no joke, for he was the second most powerful viking in The Viking's Mentra, just below Hawkon. How he came to be given such power will be explained imminently.

Astrid looked up at this third figure and was shocked, utterly, due to the unexpected nature of just who it was. She was still weak and heavy-felt in her head and eyes, but she was able to feel shocked due to the magnitude of this person, 'having history' with her, simply being here.

"Well well well..." Gustav Larson said, his dark beard practically covering his whole chin and mouth it was that thick, "you didn't expect this, did you, Astrid?" the much older, now adult, second-in-command, now-turned-Mentranian said.

"When I discovered that it was you we captured, I couldn't miss the opportunity to greet you again after a decade, you know?" Larson added.

Astrid had no words. Her throat was so dry she couldn't even respond to Larson.

"I bet you're afraid. You come here to this island, not expecting such a stable and wonderful civilisation to be living upon it, and then the next thing you know..." Gustav snapped his fingers, "you're knocked out cold, and it's all came back around in a big circle. Have you missed me from a decade ago?"

Astrid, her wrists and arms still being held up by the metal chains, fought through the rampant pain and dryness in her throat to speak out to Gustav.

"What are you d-doing..." she slowly said, "Gustav, what's going on here? what's happened to Berk?"

"What's a Berk?" Gustav chuckled, "this isn't Berk, Astrid. Not anymore. This..." he grabbed her chin and raised her head up to face him directly, "this is The Viking's Mentra, a viking civilisation whereby we've worked to close ourselves off from the grotesque tribes surrounding us. We're a sovereign island that came to fruition after Grimmel died, and luckily for me, I happened to swim back here back then at the right time. The circumstances between myself and everyone you know called for it."

"M-Mentra? what's happene-"

"Don't keep questioning the existence, Astrid. This, I reiterate, is The Viking's Mentra. Mentranians live on our island from the fear of hostile tribes. What you once saw as 'Berk' has long been eradicated. We now live under the inspirational leadership of my father and great leader, Hawkon the Second." Gustav declared, taking a step back.

Seeing Old Berk totally transformed from what it used to be was one shocker, but Gustav Larson actually being apart of its transformation, and from what he's said, (Astrid was assuming this next idea after the bracket), being apart of a regime that's taken a constituting on the entirety of Old Berk? it was like he was an entirely different viking from the old days.

"Hawkon, who's Hawkon?" she weakly uttered.

At that, Gustav grabbed Astrid by the hair and utterly slapped her on the cheek she was pelted in the elbow with. As the second-in-command of Mentra, he wasn't somebody you'd want to question the leadership to, or the sovereignty of Mentra generally. He wasn't the same person he was back when he was a kid during the old days, pre-Drago and pre-Grimmel.

"Don't question our father again, Astrid. When you've had a few deserving sessions of exhaustion and deliberate pain in this camp, I'll come back here and run you down on everything. Maybe you'll be knocked back into your old self again, you sound and look weak and feeble, what happened to the Astrid I knew back in the day? huh?"

"Sir, we need to get her out and going." the Mentranian closest to Gustav said.

"Of course, defender. Take her to the open outside and have her sweat until she can't take anymore. Starve her until she begs for food. Remember our great father's motto; show no mercy to the foreigners and outsiders." Gustav nodded, to the two guards.

"Aye, sir." they all nodded.

"I'll see you later, Astrid, when you've hopefully been taught some deserving procedures." Gustav said, the second-in-command now-Mentranian heading out for the door.

As soon as he left, the two guards walked to Astrid to unchain her, and it won't be just those two guards dealing with her when she's forced to starve to the point of begging and sweat, plenty more Defence force vikings are outside the isolation camps to contribute to the 'foreigner's' suffering that they feel is rightly deserved.

But...Gustav Larson? what happened a decade ago that led to him abandoning everyone he was friends with? how did he get into the good books of the Mentranian regime? most importantly, how has he managed to become what is basically the second most powerful viking in the regime, just below Hawkon?


	10. Missing

**CHAPTER 10: Missing**

Nothing was unusual at the moment for Hiccup. At this point, it's been 3 to 4 hours since Astrid left, and she did say it'd take her an hour or two to make the journey back and forth from the old island. Maybe she underestimated the time it'd actually take to get there, that was what Hiccup was thinking anyways.

He was inside his hut, with Zephyr and Nuffink, getting everything ready for when Astrid comes back. He was placing the gear for the trip later into a basket, a basket that the Berkians would usually store fish in. Hiccup wanted to make sure he had absolutely everything for when they set sail. Astrid had the map for herself when she left for her solo journey to the old island those hours ago.

Valka came walking into the hut, as Hiccup scrambled to get every single bit of gear and equipment into his wooden basket, as he looked like he was dripping tiny bits of sweat from his beard and forehead. What was the sweating about?

"Son, do you know when Astrid's coming back?" Valka asked, surprised at how long Astrid's been out there for.

"Oh, she's probably underestimated how long it'd actually take mum. She'll be fine." Hiccup said.

Secretly, he couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive at the fact she's been out for such a long time, longer than he'd expect, but he still had hope that it was the case that she underestimated the time from New Berk to Old Berk.

"She's probably being a slow coach." Zephyr said, feeling impatient at how long her mother's spent on her trip.

"She's making sure the trip will be safe for when you, Nuffink and your dad sail there afterwards, she's not deliberately being slow, Zephyr." Valka insisted, leading to Zephyr shrugging her shoulders.

"I just hope she's doing okay. It's the open seas, and she's all alone, I probably should've gone with her with the kids. Did she really need to do this?" Hiccup asked, placing the wooden basket down to walk halfway across the room towards Valka and the two kids.

"We haven't been at the old island for ten years, Hiccup. I'm sure it isn't gonna harm Astrid to do this. Maybe I shouldn't have questioned why she's been out for as long as she has, because thinking about it, it's quite a hefty and long thing to get done."

"You know something, mum? I might go for like...I dunno, a nap or something, to get some shut eye before we go on the trip with the kids. But that'd mean you'd have to watch the kids in the meantime...I-"

"Oh son, don't worry at all. I understand why you're stressed out, and hey, it's probably a good idea that you do get some shut eye, because by the time you wake up, Astrid will be back and then you'll all be on your way to the old island." Valka nodded, having no issue in looking after Zephyr and Nuffink for the duration of Hiccup's upcoming nap.

Hiccup gestured for his mum to come close to him, so he could whisper to her. He didn't want to say what he's about to say out loud whilst Zephyr and Nuffink are stood literally in the room with them, because he didn't want to make them feel worried. They were both distracted with playing with one another anyways, but still, Hiccup didn't want to risk it.

Valka walked up to Hiccup as she turned her head so her ear was facing him.

"I.." Hiccup whispered, "I just have some sort of bad feeling, mum. I know I look like I don't, but I...when you asked me if I know when Astrid's coming back, honestly, I don't know...I thought it'd be an hour or two afterwards, but I really don't know." Hiccup confessed.

"It's only been 3 hours, Hiccup. I probably shouldn't have asked that in the first place. She'll be back, I promise you. You go and have your nap, and I'll take Zephyr and Nuffink to the village with Gobber and the rest." Valka, whispering to Hiccup, said.

Hiccup, hearing his mum's assurance, oddly made him feel more at ease. He had no idea where the tiredness came from, but he felt like he needed to sleep for an hour or two. Maybe because he doesn't want to go through the stress of Astrid not being back here despite him expecting her to in the next two hours or one hour.

"Okay. Zephyr, Nuffink, come here for a moment." Hiccup said.

"I'm so boredddd, when are we going?" Nuffink asked, with Zephyr agreeing with her brother.

"Yeah, this is totally pathetic. When is mum coming back so we can go to this old island you keep talking about?" she said.

"Listen for a moment guys. Your grandmother is going to take you across the village whilst I just rest up to prepare for the trip. I promise you, mum will be back by the time I wake up, and when she is, we'll head straight to the old island. Your grandmother is going to have fun with you by taking you to Gobber, everyone in the village, hopefully to get you excited and looking forward to our trip later on. Okay?" Hiccup said.

The both of them reluctantly nodded.

"Come on then guys, I think Gobber and everyone will wanna see you both." Valka said, patting the both of them on their shoulders.

"Have a good time guys! we'll have fun later! and thanks mum for doing this for me. I really do need this nap." Hiccup said, rubbing his beard.

"Not a problem, son. She'll definitely be back by the time you wake up, so enjoy it." Valka nodded.

Valka led Zephyr and Nuffink outwards towards the door of the hut. She gently closed it to allow Hiccup to get a much needed nap. But as soon as the door closed, Hiccup, walking towards his bed, spoke to himself and prayed.

"Please Astrid, please come back by the time I wake up." he pleaded.

And yes, he's just pleaded intentionally to Odin for Astrid to be back here. Finally, Hiccup made his way to the bed to go for his nap.

* * *

"Progress report?" Guddorn, returning to Dragon Island after sailing back here from Mentra, following his interrogation with one of Hawkon's adviser vikings, said.

The island was still surrounded with fog on the shores and the dull, mountainous rocky structures dwarfed the Berserkers and Mentranians on it, but they had already set up camp, and judging from the dead, wingless dragon bodies situated randomly across random areas, phase one of Mentra's defence program was already doing well.

"Sir, we've managed to forcefully breed the Gronckles and we now have their eggs. We disposed of those two as soon as we got those eggs. Same for the Monstrous Nightmare. We made it wingless before forcefully breeding it with another, and gently disposed of it once we made it breed with the second Monstrous Nightmare that eventually came down, and there's already a bunch more dragons up ahead that're under our venom. In total, sir, we have about six or so eggs, in which they're mixtures of the different species." Larick declared.

Guddorn was noting all of this down on a wooden pad with paper on the front.

"And I'm assuming we're gonna leave these dead ones here as they are? it's a good idea if we do that, no?" Guddorn questioned.

"Absolutely, sir. Throughout the course of this phase we've discovered that the more dragons there are on the ground, the more likely the ones flying above are to come down and check out the commotion of their fellow reptiles." Larick said.

"Great stuff Larick, great stuff indeed. Whilst the men do their work here with those vermin and obtain their eggs, I'll fill you in on something quite significant." Guddorn said, gesturing for Larick to walk besides him near the shores of Dragon Island, resulting in the fog being much closer to their bodies.

As they walked, more than a dozen Mentranians and Berserkers continued to force the venom-hit dragons to breed with their fellow reptiles to obtain the eggs. They had set up camp here a short while ago after shooting their first two dragons; more gear was around, wooden tables to place the eggs on, so on.

"I had the honour of meeting our great leader's adviser. He wanted me to report on the progress of phase one..." Guddorn said, being the one right besides the shores of the entirely-rocky island, "and I have to say, judging from what I was able to report and his overall tone, I think we're gonna make an amazing impression on our dear leader. We're doing him proud."

"I hope so, sir. This program will be vital for the future of our island."

"There's no way around that, Larick. Keep up the good work and we'll be disposing of these dragons faster than I initially thought, once we've got their eggs."

* * *

Astrid has spent the last hour being forced to do laps around the whole field that was cornered off by a wooden border of the isolation camp; the camp borders were half the size of the main borders that surrounded Mentra, meaning that they were smaller, and yet you still couldn't climb over them.

Her mouth was dry, she couldn't feel her tongue, but the worst thing of all? she was starving. She felt like collapsing she was that thirsty and hungry.

And there was nothing she could do about it, because in the same field with her were a bunch of Mentranians running the camp alongside deadly-looking Berserkers, all of whom had crossbows with venom vials in their hands.

They were wholeheartedly intent on making Astrid either starve to death or beg for water or food. If you know the Mentranian viking regime well, you'll know from past chapters that their policy for their prisoners in the isolation camps is that they're to be forcefully starved to the point they're near the brink.

She was sweating and absolutely boiling. What's probably the darkest thing about the isolation camps is that the regular Mentranians don't get to see what happens inside them; they just go about their every day lives under the regime whilst it brutally punishes the prisoners at the same time. They're basically legitimising that type of treatment as an every day, normal routine, but to no fault of their own as they don't know any better, and most regular Mentranians are polite, pleasant vikings with high aspirations who wouldn't dream of wishing what Astrid's going through upon anyone.

The fact Astrid had thick gear on, an intended aspect of the camps by the regime to make their prisoners sweat and boil easier, made her feel all the more exhausted and dry. The venom in her system still wasn't entirely gone, so she didn't have much strength to begin with. And being whacked in the face by a crossbow and slapped in the face prompted red areas on her face, and they, as she continued to sweat, became inflamed with pure pain due to the heat.

The sun wasn't even out and she was boiling. She simply wasn't in a good state.

Trying to escape the camp was a no-go, because if any prisoner of the regime tries to do so, they'd be executed straight away. She was basically stranded.

She collapsed onto the grass, her throat aching with pure dryness as she continued to breath heavily. She needed food and water. And she needed it now. As she dropped onto her chest on the grass, one Mentranian and Berserker walked to her collapsed body.

"Get up. Who said you could rest? you don't rest as an infiltrator of the Mentranian vikings. Get up now." the Mentranian demanded, threatening her by aiming his crossbow at her.

She saw the crossbow being aimed at her from the corner of her eye. She pushed herself off of her chest as her blonde hair was loose entirely. The wide Berserker with his long beard prompted her to increase the rate at which she was climbing back up.

"Luckily for us, you won't be eating at all today, nor will you be drinking. For trying to rest and disobey the Mentranian paradise, you'll be doing another ten laps. So get yourself, get running, and don't stop until you've hit the ten mark, you foreigner scum." the Mentranian violently yelled, causing Astrid's heart to ache in the midst of her weakness.

Astrid was never usually like this. She was always the strong one. But not now. The regime's managed to make her a weakling with pure tiredness from starvation and severe thirst.

Half an hour later, Astrid was back inside the camp building. She was chained up once again, this time to a chair that was situated within a table in the middle of the room. For good reason as well. The door opened up, and sure enough, the second most powerful viking of the Mentranian regime, Gustav Larson, emerged through it, subsequently with a few more Mentranians.

"Tell me gentlemen, how's she got on?" Larson asked.

"She expected us to go easy on the routine, despite infiltrating the Mentranian land and vikings, which is a dangerous action no matter how you spin it, sir. She's rightfully being forced to her brink." the Mentranian responded, whilst the other stood in a guard position near the door.

"Ah. Maybe now that she's finally getting started, I can have a sit down with her to let her know what's what." Larson said, grabbing a chair from the corner of the camp building, sliding it to the opposite side of Astrid.

"Indeed, sir. Do you want us to leave or?"

"Stay with me, there's no reason you have to miss this." Larson said, sitting down on the chair opposite Astrid.

Astrid didn't bother responding; she was simply too weak physically and mentally, both from starvation and pure dread.

"Do you get it now, scum?" Larson said, "hey? this isn't a joke, Hofferson. This is a genuine thing. I don't know what motive led to you coming to our great island, maybe you thought we didn't exist, but you should've thought it through, wouldn't you say?"

She didn't respond.

"As I thought. And you know something, gentlemen?" Gustav said, turning to the two Mentranians behind himself, "I used to be in the same tribe as her. A whole decade ago, right before our great sovereign Mentra was founded, in fact. I was looking to make a name for myself, but I learnt that historically, the Hooligans are their worst enemy. I mean, look at her, she's here right now, and it's all because she came here herself, she's brought it on herself, you're your own worst enemy, Astrid, and everyone else back at the other place can't save you."

"Because of them lot, gentlemen, my own parents banished me, and their Chieftan didn't bat a single eye. I was sent away into the wild simply because of a small disagreement I had with their Chief at the time. I was hopeless and emotional about it. Do you remember that, Astrid? do you remember what he did to me, and what he made my parents do to me?" Larson asked, facing Astrid again.

She didn't bother to respond a second time.

"Her silence is why our great sovereign paradise has her in this camp, where she can get the treatment she deserves. If it wasn't for our great late leader taking me in when The Viking's Mentra was in its early stages of formation a decade ago, after I swam back to this island after being banished for that disagreement with their Chief, I wouldn't be here today, contributing to our stability. And Astrid, I'd tell you to tell everyone back at your island I'm doing fine and I'm still alive, but you aren't ever being let out, so it's useless isn't it?"

"See, she isn't talking to me at all, because she knows she's doomed and I'm in the right. Our great father in Hawkon would be delighted at seeing you in this state, Astrid."

The more Astrid heard Gustav speak, the more it dawned on her, in her weak mind, that Gustav Larson was genuinely not the same person he was when he was a child back in the old days, when he was pals with Snotlout. It's like he wasn't even on Berk at all. That's what Mentra can do to you if you're closely associated with it; your loyalty sticks and you erase whatever past you had due to the cult of personality loyalty.

"Luckily for the Hooligans and anyone else, we aren't an island that strikes first, but rather, a sovereign island that wants to toughen up its defence against any hostile tribes. So Astrid, that's how things stand and will continue to stand. We're currently working on our defence program, and it's been a spectacular success so far with phase one." Larson proudly declared.

"Keep her worked up. I want her to go through the wrath as much as possible." Larson declared, getting up from his chair, "and Astrid, let me repeat; Hiccup isn't gonna save you, nor will Snotlout or any of the scum on that island nowadays. Take care, Hofferson, that is, if you're still able to do so after today."

The second in command now-Mentranian headed out for the door, leaving Astrid stranded in the room as the two Mentranian guards shut the door, locking it from the outside, keeping Astrid chained up.

Gustav Larson has truly changed, and not in a good way. He's became a fanatic for the Mentranian regime. His knowledge and past experience with the Hooligans makes him an ideal member of the leadership of Mentra, so they can know what to expect should any hostile attacks arise particularly from that tribe. It was Hawkon's father, a decade ago, who took Gustav in, and Gustav at the time worked closely with Hawkon's father in creating Mentra in light of his so-called merciless banishment from the Hairy Hooligans, due to a 'disagreement' he had with Hiccup.

The fact that disagreement made Gustav's own parents banish him and endorse the banishment, shows that whatever it was, it was a personal issue in question for the Hooligans, and that it was much more severe than just a 'small disagreement'.

Hawkon was of course a different person to his father in some ways. Because of that, he'd often feel tensions with Gustav, given that Larson's the second most powerful viking in the Mentranian regime, making Hawkon paranoid that some sort of coup may occur.

In an ideal world, Hawkon wanted nobody having anywhere near as much power as him in the regime, but Larson was somebody he felt he could somewhat trust given that he's been around since the formation of the regime, and his father thought highly of him, to the point he handed him many roles that eventually made him rise to become the second most powerful viking in the Mentranian regime.

The only reason Hawkon's kept Larson in that position is because his father gave him it initially. And despite the tensions Hawkon feels, he does find himself getting on well with Larson whenever they meet up for important matters.

God help Astrid, though.

* * *

It's been two hours since Hiccup fell asleep for his nap. He could hear a couple of footsteps coming towards his sleeping self, which was a coincidence as he was just about to wake up. And those footsteps were clearly from one person; Astrid herself. It made him feel prompted to get through the tiredness you usually have from waking up, to sit up straight away and talk to Astrid.

Hiccup sat up, opening his eyes.

"ASTRID?" he yelled, but rather than her, it was Valka, Zephyr, and Nuffink.

"Son, she isn't here..." Valka said, with a heavy gulp.

Zephyr and Nuffink both looked worried, as Hiccup widened his eyes. His heart ached at the reality that Astrid _still _wasn't back.

"W-where's mum gone, dad?" Zephyr asked, trembling in her bottom lip.

Hiccup sat up and leapt off of his bed, gesturing for the kids and Valka to follow him; he was marching rapidly to head to the outside.

Something wasn't right. Astrid was missing. Hiccup felt like crying. He wanted to investigate whatever was going on. Zephyr and Nuffink knew something wasn't right.

Zephyr, having seen Toothless quite recently, during the Snoggletog pageant, felt emotional about that encounter with him, in light of her mother seemingly being missing. She wanted Toothless to be here to comfort them all, but obviously he couldn't. She too felt like crying, as did Nuffink. They wanted Toothless here to comfort them, especially Zephyr, given that she saw him at the pageant by herself, and subsequently, with her family when Hiccup reunited with him on that boat trip, again fairly recently.

The saddest thing about Zephyr feeling that way? if any of the dragons were back, they could easily fly over the seas and locate Astrid, but there's no longer any dragons amongst them, making this all the more heartbreaking and threatening.

Astrid, in reality, was in an unknown environment in the form of a brutal viking regime that's taken formation on Hiccup's old island of the original Berk. He'll find that out soon enough, as will Valka, and the rest of the lot like Fishlegs, etc.


	11. Defender defection

**CHAPTER 11: Defender defection**

Hiccup rapidly walked through the forests of New Berk, all the way to the edge of the island that had the contraption built that enabled the vikings to be lifted up or down the island given it had such a gigantic height. Following him from behind was Valka with the two kids.

"Hiccup, what're you thinking?" Valka asked, as Hiccup seemed to be storming all the way past the trees.

"I'll be going out there myself to find her, mum." Hiccup insisted, not even stopping to talk.

He had a huge ache in his chest from the sheer worry and apprehension. He's lost his dad in the past, he can't take potentially losing Astrid. That sounds dramatic, but she's been gone for hours now, way more than he expected, so he had every reason to fear such an outcome.

His face was stinging from how hot he was, delivered by the stress. The scent of grass and mud was running riot in his nostrils from how rapidly he's been storming through the forest. His legs felt like they had walked for ten hours straight, again delivered by the stress, and occasionally his vision went blurry due to the severe worry and emotional mess he was in.

They finally got to the contraption. There was a lever situated on a round, circle bit of wood that was attached to thick rope, with the rope holding a big wooden platform that'd, once the lever was winded in the right direction, lower down until it hit the very bottom shores. Valka and the two kids caught up to the distressed Chief.

"Son, son, what if she's taking her time? we need to take other considerations?" Valka said, trying to calm her son down.

"There's no other considerations to be made, mum. She's missing. That's simply it. And I'm the one that has to go out there and find out what's happened. I don't care what state I'll end up in. If I can find Astrid, it'll all be worth it."

"What about Zephyr and Nuffink, Hiccup?" Valka asked.

"They can stay with you. I just want to find my wife and bring her back."

"Dad, can we-?" Zephyr asked.

"No, you can't. Stay here and don't go anywhere." Hiccup firmly insisted, but right away he broke down internally.

He's just responded in a harsh way to Zephyr, and has generally been showing an angered demeanour right in front of his two kids. That's the last thing they needed to witness at a moment where their mum is literally missing. Hiccup knelt down right in front of them and raised his arms out.

"I'm so sorry, kids. I'm really sorry about this." he said, his voice breaking up as the guilt of behaving in front of them in this manner started building up.

Zephyr and Nuffink both came up to their dad and placed their arms on his back, as Hiccup closed his around theirs. They embraced in the hug for a while, as Hiccup allowed a few tears to run off of his cheeks whilst his face was besides theirs. Afterwards, Hiccup, remaining knelt down, slightly moved back to talk to them both.

"I'm so sorry for being like that, the both of you. I'm just...really worried, and I know you both are as well. You didn't need to see me like that at all, especially when something like this is happening to us. Can you both forgive me?" Hiccup softly asked.

Zephyr and Nuffink didn't cry, but they could feel the anxiety and sadness of their dad, as they too were worried and apprehensive of their mum's whereabouts. They both nodded at Hiccup.

"Thank you. I'll be going out there now, and I'll be looking for mum. I know she's out there somewhere, okay? I promise you both," he placed his two palms on both their shoulders, "it'll be alright, mum will be fine, and when she's back, we can do what we planned, okay?"

"Okay, dad." the both of them quietly said.

After that, Hiccup stood back up, still holding onto the two kids as he had guilt in him. He looked at Valka.

"Mum, I'll need to sail off and look for her. Can you-"

"No, son. You aren't going out there by yourself. We're all coming with you." Valka insisted, and yes, she included Zephyr and Nuffink in that they'll be coming as well.

"W-What?"

"It's too risky to go by yourself. We're all coming with you, and that's the end of it."

"Wait, are we coming to find mum as well?!" Nuffink asked.

"Yes, you are." Valka responded.

That at least led to a brief, hyperactive excitement from the two kids, but Hiccup, not so much.

"Mum, I dunno if this is a good idea-"

"It's on me, Hiccup. We all need to be together to go and find her. After all, I coincidentally found you when you were on Toothless and had you taken to the Bewilderbeast's lair that day, remember?"

Hiccup recalled that like it was yesterday. Just to see this armoured up figure with a menacing looking staff, stood straight on top of a giant dragon like Cloudjumper, gliding amongst the clouds with said dragon, was a scary sight.

"Yeah, I do actually. If you're all coming, we need to be quick." Hiccup conceded.

"Oh, sorry guys, I was just going for a quick stroll to ease the pain in my eyes a bit. Standing in one spot isn't good for the eyes, you know?" the viking who usually operates the New Berk contraption said, returning to the lever.

"You could've came a bit quicker. Astrid went here and you lifted her down, now she's been out for over five hours, she's gone missing. Do you know if she said anything before she left?" Hiccup rapidly said, the stress once again building up in him.

Valka and the two kids moved closer to Hiccup as he engaged with the contraption lever operating viking.

"She only said to me that she was going to the old island. I did tell her about my experience of trying to go there a few years ago when I sailed, but she didn't believe me, but Hiccup, honestly, I hope you find her and she's safe."

The contraption always required two vikings to operate it; one viking to operate the lever, and obviously the other so they can get down and up from the help of the other working the lever.

"Come on then kids, let's head on-" Valka said, before Hiccup interrupted.

"Wait a minute, what experience are you talking about?"

"I didn't think you'd want to hear about it since the old island nowadays is pretty much on the back of our minds, and that we had no intent of going back to it. I just thought I'd sail there a few years ago to check it out. But what I found was...shocking, to say the least." he said.

"Son, what's he talking about?" Valka asked Hiccup.

"I dunno. Can you just tell us what you're talking about?" Hiccup said, growing tired of the vague-sounding hints from the viking.

"A few years ago, I sailed there and...I never actually set foot on it nor did I get close to the place because of its appearance, but it...looked different. From what I saw, I swear there was a bunch of people on it...that's literally all I know."

"A...bunch of people? what types of people? I thought Berk was dead ever since we left it because of Grimmel?"

"I thought so too, but I was wrong. As for the types of people I saw, that stuff I do not know. I didn't set foot on it, nor did I get close to it, it looked pretty dangerous. But if Astrid's actually got close to it, then.." he shrugged, unable to continue his sentence.

Hiccup was absolutely mind boggled. The old island...suddenly packed with people again? it...looks different? that can't be true in Hiccup's head, because it was abandoned and dead ever since he and the whole Hooligan tribe left it a decade ago when Grimmel attacked.

"I'll set foot on it myself then and find her. I don't care if it's filled again or whatever. It's still technically OUR home...even though it's our old home. It was our home of seven generations and it still is."

"If I knew more about it, Hiccup, I'd tell you, but like I said, I only saw it from the outside, and I saw vikings on it, that's all I know. I don't know the details."

"Son...that sounds like it's got a whole bunch of uncertainty to it." Valka said, not liking the idea of Old Berk becoming the home island of a different tribe of vikings, if that was what they were.

"It's for Astrid. We'll have to do it."

At that, the four of them stepped on the wooden platform on the contraption. There were a ton of boats on the shores below for them to sail on. The viking was slowly winding the lever down. Hiccup was secretly curious of the perception that Old Berk was populated again...if so, where did those people come from? what types of people are they? it was still the home of seven generations to the Hooligans and himself and his father's, in his head, so if it's true that it's been taken over, he'll feel more than insulted.

Hiccup was getting flashbacks to the days of Drago, but this was no Drago-esque situation once he gets to the bottom of it.

'Insulted' is a mild way of describing how a dangerous, cult of personality viking regime in the form of The Viking's Mentra would make him feel. Hiccup may not know of the details like the name and so on, but he will eventually. And if he genuinely thinks he can set foot onto Mentra with ease like it's his island, he'll have the same thing coming to him and Valka and the two kids that Astrid had.

The journey for rescuing Astrid, nonetheless, was on, and Hiccup was extremely anxious about his chances, as was Valka. He tried to prevent himself from emotionally breaking down for the sake of Zephyr and Nuffink, as did Valka. The two kids were still nervous and worried about their mum.

Hiccup at this point couldn't stop thinking about Toothless and the dragons. He wished his best bud was here to assist him and comfort him. But it unfortunately cannot come to fruition anymore since they're all back in The Hidden World.

* * *

He just couldn't take it anymore. The dread that filled his every morning wake up, the apprehension, and the feeling that he was being watched from every corner, with his every movement being watched and tracked. The harsh circumstances and policies he had to forcefully inflict on the regular Mentranians. He wasn't allowed to show the guilty he'd always feel for imposing them. And this defender was already in a bad eye of the regime, because his whole family was killed quite a while back for his failure to act and live up to the expectations set upon him as a defender of Mentra. The leadership considered him a breach quite often, at the Mentranian safety.

The reality was, he was like that because he wasn't happy with his life under the regime. He felt guilty for having to be merciless with the regular Mentranians, and the fact that he barely had enough to eat to survive on. He felt skinny, he was that hungry.

And he could sense that hunger in his fellow Mentranians, regular or defender, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Given that the leadership got rid of his family a while back, he didn't want to hold back any longer. It was his time to defect and get out of the dangerous environment that was Mentra itself. His family would've wanted that for him. They were openly critical of the regime, which led to their ultimate fate becoming a higher possibility before it happened, alongside the supposed incompetence of their son, the defender who was now about to make a daring attempt of getting out of Mentra.

This specific defender, his personal circumstances listed above, was called Blavery Borhid. All he focused on at the moment was escaping with his life out of the danger that was the Mentranian viking regime. He was a middle aged viking, and somebody who came to live here when the regime was formed a decade ago.

He quickly realised that it became more and more closed off as the years went by, and now, feeling like he does at the present time, he knew he should've escaped ages ago, but that wasn't an option, due to the fact that his family would've very much been killed by the regime if he did. He saw Hawkon as even more extremist and dangerous than his father. At least the old leader wasn't as militaristic and careless about the regulars, Blavery thought.

Blavery, in his defence force gear, with his crossbow, (he wasn't given a venom one like the other defenders because of his bad incompetence in their view), was stood near the boardwalk of Mentranian fishers, watching them with his fellow defenders. He was right behind Mentra's wooden and barbed border. The boardwalk was outside the borders on the front of the island.

Blavery was looking to make his escape right now, but a couple of problems were present; too many of his defender colleagues were around, and secondly, some of them were in both open directions that would've allowed him to walk directly outside the borders to a point where he couldn't be seen by anyone, allowing for an easier escape.

"Men, I'm just going to check on something really quick." Blavery said, walking up to his fellow defenders as they patrolled up and down the boardwalk of fishers just now.

"Where're you going? you don't have anything else to check?" one defender said.

"It's nothing big, I just need to make sure everything's in line."

"Sounds like you're playing games here. We all have a duty to keep this place and our fishers safeguarded. What could possibly take your priority over that?"

Blavery was already heating up from the intense questioning.

"I'll be a few minutes, I want to safeguard our fishers to ensure our paradise survives," he said, trying to woo over his colleague by reiterating the propaganda name given to the regime often, "survives on the food it needs, on behalf of our father."

"Any longer than a few minutes and you're in big trouble. Go and get out of here and do it now." the defender conceded, pointing towards the medium-sized door like frame in the border behind Blavery that allowed fishermen and defenders to come in and out of it to access the boardwalk.

Blavery nodded. He slowly turned around as he glared at the ground, making his way back inside the area of the border. As soon as it became clear he was out of the vision of fellow colleague defenders, he wasted no time in walking to the left, directly against the border practically, moving further and further away from the in/out hole of the border to the boardwalk.

Now his heart was pounding. His palms were shaking, and he was shivering. The pressure was on. He felt like he was in a darkened out field in the night, being chased by something dangerous behind him, prompting him to gradually increase his walking. The more he got away, the quicker his chest started drying up from the pure anxiety of this whole intent he had.

None of the regular Mentranians in the dominantly-brown coloured villages of houses and huts batted an eye at him, as he was simply looking like a defender patrolling the border in their eyes.

The nerves were as high as a mountain, because he was literally, at this moment in time, trying to escape a brutal regime. His knees felt like jelly, but he didn't surrender his ability to run. He was getting into the hillier parts of Mentra at this point, and no longer could he see other defenders. His plan of trying to find a high way up to climb the border, despite the barbed wire, was what was providing the anxiety, alongside the notion that should he be caught doing this, he'll most likely be killed in the isolation camps.

The newly-found Mentranian overseers party, collectively, already had a plan in mind to review Blavery's position in light of his incompetence, and so, it was probably the perfect time for him to try to escape.

"HEY, WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" a defender yelled, from the village, noticing that Blavery was suspiciously running besides the border in an unusual fashion.

"Uh, I, I...uh uh uhh..." Blavery stuttered, as he was caught up by the older-looking Mentranian defender, who indeed had a venom crossbow in his grasp, making Blavery all the more nervous.

That was it. Blavery couldn't risk being caught out running. He held his crossbow up and stomped it fiercely into the forehead of the defender, knocking him out cold. Blavery didn't pick up the venom crossbow, because his body instantly charged into a sprint, getting away from the area of the fallen body of the defender he just knocked out. The other defenders were definitely going to be on his trail now.

His palms were sweating, his eyes were hurting, and his heart felt like it was about to pop. But Blavery wasn't going to let himself be killed by the regime.

A few short minutes later of going unnoticed, Blavery finally came across what looked to be a hillier area of the border, and one part of the border that coincidentally lacked as many barbed wires. There was a brown, medium sized hut that was perfectly situated right besides the border; if Blavery could climb up to the roof from the help of the hillier area, he could leap onto the top of the wooden border and fall off of it to the other side, and then swim out.

He felt like he was dead. He felt like he was done. But Blavery's body was switched on like a game in its fight or flight senses, allowing him to focus through the apprehension and stress and the sweat from the dangerous escape dare he was playing here.

Dozens and dozens of defenders were rapidly charging their way like a pack from the area where the entrance of the border leading to the boardwalk was. They held their venom arrows in one hand and their crossbows in another, readying up to click them into the weapons to fire at the escaping defender just a few minutes ahead.

As they ran, regular Mentranians evacuated themselves and their children into their dominantly brown huts and houses in the villages.

The defenders took no regards to where they were running past; their focus was stopping this upcoming defender from making his escape.

Blavery could hear them. He was already on top of the roof of the house, and the top of the border with less barbed wire than the other segments of it across the island was literally within an arms reach. As he looked to make the jump, the other defenders were quickly dashing in just a few short steps away.

"GET DOWN NOW!" one of them yelled.

"TRAITOR! YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED GREATLY! GET DOWN HERE!" another Mentranian defender yelled.

Their voices increased Blavery's pounding heart.

Blavery, hearing them arrive in their tens, leapt up to the top of the border and briefly lost his balance on it; he stabbed himself in his shoulders and cheeks from the barbed wire, but the defenders were here; they aimed their crossbows up at him on top of the border. They started firing their crossbows at him; only regular arrows, as not all of them had venom arrows. The ones who had their venom vials needed to quickly dip their arrows into it, which, again, has costed them the ability to be quick enough to respond.

Unable to see them entirely due to his front half body nearly dangled over the other side, Blavery deliberately let go of his grip of the border to fall down over it to crash to the other side. He landed hard on his back, knocking the air out of his throat for about 30 seconds on the other side.

The defenders fired their crossbows at Blavery's legs just before he dropped down from the top to the other side of the border; all of the ones with venom-struck arrows missed, but the regular arrowed ones managed to hit him in his legs, and as soon as Blavery dropped down, they all charged collectively back towards the boardwalk entry point of the border to catch up to Blavery. If they don't stop his escape, they're in _big_ trouble with the overseers party of Mentra, as well as the Mentranian leadership itself.

Blavery, ignoring his soaring, burning pain and his weakness, from his arrow-struck legs, leapt straight into the sea waters and started swimming away from the island. He knew the defenders were coming on this side, so he needed to swim away quick.

With Blavery long away, the ten or so defenders arrived at the area he dropped to, and, unable to see him anywhere, the lot of them lowered their crossbows.

"GET THE PATROL BOATS, QUICKLY MEN!" one of them yelled, prompting every single one of them to again charge in a sprint in a huge group back towards the boardwalk, which had been evacuated in light of the defection being made known to everyone in the vicinity.

In reality, those defenders who failed to stop Blavery were now in serious trouble. Their lives might be costed as a result of them failing to halt Blavery escaping the regime. When it's mentioned to the Mentranian overseers party and Hawkon, these ten+ defenders are sure to suffer some harsh consequences, potentially re-education in the isolation camps or hard labour in the camps, treated like outsiders in them, or even being executed in them.

This defection, simply put, is a huge embarrassment to Hawkon. Despite portraying himself as a young face with strong leadership qualities, when he first became Mentranian leader after his father's passing, this defection will show not only to his father's own advisers, (now his), but the Defence force he needs to keep appeased with guarantees of strong leadership, simply, that he's incapable of preventing any cracks in the Mentranian viking regime. This won't be good for him, but that may mean the lives of those ten defenders are costed.


	12. Dangerously close

**CHAPTER 12: Dangerously close**

Hiccup, Valka and the two kids were anxiously sailing their way on the seaweed-scented waters on a medium sized boat, a boat that had a bunch of wooden chairs for Zephyr and Nuffink to sit on, whilst a sweating, panicking and apprehensive Hiccup looked out, alongside Valka.

What prevented Hiccup's aching jelly legs and stinging, sweaty forehead from feeling the next level up was the possibility that Astrid was simply talking with the vikings on Old Berk, whoever they were. Hiccup's thinking was that the vikings on the old island were in very tiny portions and groups, and that they weren't anything other than that.

And it'll also comfort him in seeing the old island when they get there, because he knows at that point he'll be within the same area of Astrid.

From that guy near the lever of the contraption, to just the general implications being sent Hiccup's way, he was pretty much banking on the reality that at this point, Astrid was on Berk, so he was able to make all these guesses and predictions as to what's happened with Astrid going missing.

He just couldn't see these new people living on the old island as anything other than small groups who've took advantage of the fact that the island was abandoned.

Hiccup wasn't even considering the possibility that the old island simply wasn't 'Berk' anymore, as it once was, and that it's been used as the foundation of a viking regime for the past decade, shortly after Grimmel's death. He was clinging onto the view that those people on the old island were simply small, tiny groups.

Hiccup did of course have doubts about his current views; if Old Berk was truly being lived on by small groups who could only set up camp in one area of it and stay in that area of the island and no other due to their small numbers, why has Astrid been out for as long as she has? something wasn't adding up.

"I just don't understand, mum. Do you think it's true?" Hiccup worryingly asked.

"That there's vikings on Berk?" Valka, comforting Zephyr and Nuffink, said.

"Yeah."

"Well, I don't really wanna say anything at the moment that'll worsen the situation for yourself, son. But if he back there said he saw people living on it...who knows, maybe they've left it at this point, because it's been a few years since he sailed to it, so we don't know what it's like now?"

"I wish I could believe that, mum. But something's clearly keeping Astrid held up out here. I just want to see her boat appear in front of us so we can all get out of here."

"I genuinely could see the benefits of living on an abandoned island though, Hiccup. If it's anything, it's probably just a small group of vikings, nothing more than that."

"Well...I hope that's the case. We're gonna sail in this general direction and then this should lead us to the old island. But he said that it looked dangerous to him, the guy up at the lever that is, when he sailed there a few years ago...I'm so scared, mum."

"Wouldn't we all benefit from our dragons being here?" Valka said.

"Without a doubt. This is making me miss Toothless even more...I just want them all back here so we can resolve this quicker, and...I just generally really miss my best bud...the kids miss him as well." Hiccup said, feeling heavy in his heart about missing Toothless and the dragons, especially in light of Astrid's current disappearance.

"Oh son, I miss Cloudjumper as well. That dragon safeguarded me for 20 years and thought I was worthy enough to be with them in the Bewilderbeast's lair...just...the memories, everything."

Hiccup and Valka have been contemplating Old Berk being populated by tiny groups. How wrong they are. The whole island has a population, led under an isolated, cult of personality viking regime, whereby the policy is that any 'foreigners' captured have a zero chance of being released. Mentra itself is going to present a shock not just to Hiccup and Valka, but everyone, ranging from Snotlout, Fishlegs, etc, at what their old island has become, when they eventually sail here for themselves.

The first thing that'll be noticeable to Hiccup and Valka is the dark wooden barbed wire border that's easily seen from a distance, so they ought to ready themselves for a different-looking appearance from the island they used to call home.

And at the moment, Valka and Hiccup are talking about their dragons being here, and how they miss them; sure, the dragons would significantly help with the threat of the Mentranian viking regime, in that they'd easily overcome it to save Astrid from the regime's grip, but the dragons will never be back here again, nor will Toothless, so that threat is in a firm position, despite Hiccup & co not knowing about the regime yet.

* * *

Mentra had sent out about ten patrol boats to track down Blavery. The regime was quick to respond to the defection in this manner. And the lives of the Mentranians tasked with recapturing Blavery were at stake. If they come back empty handed, and the Mentranian overseers party is informed of their failure, every single Mentranian, including the dozen or so who initially tried to shoot down and chase down Blavery near the borders, will face a trip to the isolation camps.

You could see the iconic cliff of the island in its wide view from these boats. They were all evenly spread around the area of ocean the regime's assumed Blavery to be at, taking into consideration where they last seen him when he was on land near the borders. Every single boat was equipped with one Mentranian holding a venom vial for their crossbows.

Two Mentranians on every boat were stood on an elevated platform at the front of the boats, keeping a firm eye out for a swimming body in the waters. One of the boats, rocking slowly on the waters as the weather kept calm and steady, had a tense vibe on it because of what was at stake with trying to capture the defector in Blavery.

"Keep quiet, men, we need to hear for some sort of cry or yell. He won't be swimming in these waters for very long, chances are he'll be on the verge of drowning, screaming for his life." the top Mentranian said, sounding firm.

His viking colleagues nodded. They adjusted the sails and slowly turned left and right in their direction on the boat. Finding the defected Mentranian was a priority set for them by the overseers party, and they're fully aware of the dire, merciless consequences should they fail to turn up with him.

* * *

Hiccup, Valka, with Zephyr and Nuffink, had finally sailed to a point that they were within distance viewing of Old Berk. There it was; their old home of seven generations. Hiccup literally had no time to embrace the view of the island due to his anxiety of finding Astrid.

"Wow...is that it, dad?" Zephyr asked, as Nuffink leaned onto the side alongside his sister, looking at the island.

"It is, Zephyr. We all used to live here, way before you were born...the both of you." Valka said.

"Woah..."

"Yeah, and your mum's going to be on here it seems. We'll have to get to it quickly to make sure she's okay." Hiccup said, feeling his heart beat slightly faster at seeing the old island again.

He was taken through a passage of nostalgia at the sight of Old Berk, very very briefly, before being returned to reality. He rushed over to the sails and ensured they were blowing in the right directions for him and his family to be heading towards the island.

"What's that?" Hiccup asked, after returning to the front of the boat to glare at Old Berk, besides Zephyr and Nuffink.

"What, Hiccup?" Valka asked, walking to the front of the boat subsequently.

"Wait a minute, what's going on over there? it-" Hiccup had no words.

About ten or so boats were sailing within close vicinity of each other from what Hiccup saw from here. Not only that, but he could see some sort of dark, tall covering that was stretching out all the way around Berk's shores, like some sort of border. A wooden boardwalk that extended out into the waters he could also sight with his eyes. Once it dawned on him that Berk had additions and looked very different to its old look, he had a brief heart attack; it's true.

"It's like it's been completely re-invented, mum...what the heck is going on here, and why are those guys over there sailing like they're in some sort of formation?" Hiccup asked, crunching his eyes as he leaned out slowly towards the drastically different looking island.

"Son, I...I don't know." Valka was also taken aback.

Hiccup's assumption that Old Berk simply had small camps of people on it, judging from what he heard from the contraption lever viking back at New Berk, was dead. Old Berk didn't look the same...various things have been built on it, and it genuinely looked different. And whilst the iconic cliff was in intact, from here, he couldn't even see the stone stairway leading up to The Great Hall. That was such a memorable and iconic aspect of Berk back in the day that Hiccup was able to quickly track down its general position from this far out, and unfortunately come to the conclusion that it's no longer there.

It's like it's been demolished. But by who? and why?

"Who's done this, and what've they done to Berk?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't think we should sail towards it, Hiccup...it looks like it's been taken over entirely...I...the forest from here doesn't even look like it's there." Valka said, as she was able to recall seeing some aspects of Berk's forest from the front back in the day.

She was absolutely right; the forest was burnt down entirely by the Mentranians when the regime was in its early times, to make room for more living space and a bigger village generally.

"Astrid is on there, and it's still our island, no matter who might be in charge nowadays. We need to head there, now." Hiccup said.

Something was telling Hiccup that the folks who've took charge of Berk in some form, have captured Astrid, and that wasn't making him feel any better. He was very apprehensive. The last thing he expected was to revisit Berk ten years later, only to find that it's been taken over and totally transformed by another bunch of vikings. It was and still is the home of the Hooligans, despite New Berk being their foundation nowadays, and Hiccup wasn't going to let it be overtook by a bunch of random people.

"They may have good building skills or whatever mum, but I'm not going to move away here. I'm gonna head to Berk, get to the bottom of all this, and find Astrid." Hiccup declared.

"Dad, is this what it looked like?"

"No, Zephyr, something's happened in between the time we left it a decade ago, to now, when we're coming back to it...I dunno what that thing was, but we're going to get to the bottom of it. Nobody comes to my father's generational island and turns it into..something else entirely...look, the Great Hall's stairs aren't even there, and the door isn't...what's gone on here, honestly?" a shocked Hiccup asked himself.

The closer they got to the island, the more the differences showed. And those ten boats didn't look friendly in the slightest. The most notable difference Hiccup saw, prompting anger and anxiety in him, was that the whole island was rendered free of its colourful huts that it had prior to Grimmel forcing them to evacuate; every single bit they could see, from the huts and houses, to that big wooden border looking thing, was brown. The boardwalk completely killed off the island's nostalgic feeling, despite being a small addition, and again, none of them could make out the greenness of the forest, or even any trees at all.

"LET ME ON, LET ME ON!" somebody yelled, prompting Zephyr and Nuffink to jump backwards in fright.

"WHO'S THAT?!" Hiccup yelled.

Valka remained stood back with the two kids, as Hiccup yelled back to that random voice; it sounded like it was coming from the waters directly in front of the boat.

"PLEASE, JUST LET ME ON, YOU AREN'T A PATROL BOAT!"

Hiccup leaned over the front, and saw a soaked up, middle aged viking in damaged gear hopelessly staying afloat in the deep sea. He was breathing heavily, as he swayed his arms and legs rapidly in the water to keep himself afloat. His eyes looked like he had witnessed something akin to a murder, he was that stressed and traumatised with escaping Mentra.

Hiccup reached his palm for the viking in the water.

"A PATROL BOAT?! WHAT?" he yelled, as Blavery grabbed the palm of Hiccup, with Hiccup slowly lifting him out of the water.

"JUST GET ME AWAY FROM HERE, PLEASE..." Blavery begged, and as Hiccup lifted him into the boat, his arrow-shot legs were unveiled to Valka, Hiccup himself and the kids.

"W-What's happened to you?" a shocked Hiccup said.

The boat was practically like a bowl of water from Blavery's soaked gear sucking a chunk of it in; Blavery himself was breathing like he was in the final portions of air before death, he felt weak, he was trembling with stinging pain, and his legs were shivering due to the saltwater stinging the wounds made by the arrows inflicted into him.

Valka covered Zephyr and Nuffink's eyes as Hiccup leaned down to the wounded, weak viking who's just been swimming, seemingly to escape something.

"Where did this all come from...?" Hiccup asked him.

"NO TIME...OH NO, THEY'RE COMING TOWARDS US...PLEASE JUST TURN AROUND..." Blavery said, finding the strength in himself to stand up and point towards the Mentranian boats sailing towards them.

The Mentranian boats have clearly spotted Hiccup's boat, and they were coming for him.

"WHO'S COMING TOWARDS US?! HAVE YOU SEEN ASTRID?!" Hiccup yelled, panicking in the heat of the moment.

"**SEIZE YOURSELVES!**" a violent sounding, thick voice echoed from one of the approaching boats in the distance.

"WHO ARE YOU-" Hiccup yelled back at the boats, but he was cut off.

"NO NO, JUST DON'T TALK TO THEM...THEY KNOW I'M HERE, PLEASE, SAVE YOURSELVES...TURN AWAY FROM HERE, THEY'LL GET US ALL..." Blavery begged, holding onto Hiccup by his chest.

Blavery could cry at this point. He wanted these random vikings he's just met to save themselves by turning away. The Mentranians were fast approaching, and Hiccup and Valka, alongside the children, could very well end up in the same situation as Astrid. Hiccup was stuck in a crossroads. This random viking was begging him to turn back from the island, and from the boats that were now approaching, but equally, he wanted to find Astrid.

"DO YOU KNOW WHERE ASTRID IS, IF YOU'VE BEEN ON THERE?!" Hiccup asked, trying to minimise his panic yells.

"SHE'S STILL ALIVE, BUT THEY- OH PLEASE, JUST GET US OUT OF HERE...PLEASE..." Blavery begged again.

Blavery suddenly lost his ability to stand up; his mind blanked out, not just from the pain and the trauma of escaping Mentra's regime, but also the stress that was being put onto him of the prospect of Mentra capturing him, and the vikings he's just met. He collapsed harshly, backfirst onto the soaking wet wooden floor of the boat.

"**DO NOT MOVE! YOU SHALL BE SEIZED WITH OUR HELP!**" another violent sounding, yelling voice echoed from the closing in boats.

"Son, son, just turn away...they sound dangerous, the kids don't like it..." Valka pleaded to Hiccup.

"Mum, we need to find Ast-"

"He said she's still alive, Hiccup. Please son, just do it this once, she's still fine and alive, but for now, we need to escape those boats, the people on it sound awfully dangerous and violent..."

Hiccup thought of the two kids, and giving in to the pleads, he adjusted the sails of his boat to slowly turn back around and get the hell out of the vicinity of Berk. The Mentranians were slowly starting to catch up to Hiccup's boat. But finally, Hiccup's boat was starting to move in its new direction, as Zephyr and Nuffink covered their ears at the stressful commotion.

The Mentranians were only about seven minutes behind their boat, but Hiccup was already picking up speed.

What's just happened? a random viking's just swam up and onto the boat, looking like he's just escaped some sort of dangerous, closed off hell, those boats just now had yelling vikings on them, sounding violent and dangerous, calling out to Hiccup & co like they were trespassing on Berk even though, in Hiccup's mind, it's still the home of seven generations to his father and the Hooligans generally, and Berk just...didn't look the same.

Worst of all, he's just had to avert danger in a manner now where he won't be getting to save Astrid, but did he really have a choice? Blavery was begging him, the Mentranians were catching up to him, and everything just sounded far too dangerous to stay around near Berk, even though, for Hiccup and everyone on the new island, it's still THEIR old home.


	13. Pasts uncovered

**CHAPTER 13: Pasts uncovered**

"KEEP QUIET EVERYONE, WE'VE GOT A MASSIVE PROBLEM ON OUR HANDS..." Hiccup yelled, to a gigantic crowd of Berkians.

They were situated inside a massive hall like hut. It was pretty much the Great Hall equivalent for New Berk, except for one significant thing; it wasn't inside a cliff or anything. It was just a basic, giant looking wooden building. It naturally had tons of colour all over it to keep in line with the theme of remembering the dragons by the colours of their scales, but still, it was no Great Hall. This hall was distanced slightly from the village, but that was because they needed to make space for its gigantic size when they built it after settling on New Berk all that time ago.

Behind Hiccup was a passed out Blavery, where his leg was covered up with scale-looking robes that were intended to heal the wounds from the arrow shots. Whilst they waited for Blavery to awaken, Hiccup wanted to explain what was going on to everyone with the old island.

Valka, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Gobber and Eret were all at the front of the hall with Hiccup, sat down on one long wooden table in front of the crowd of vikings. Zephyr and Nuffink were both sat next to Valka. Hiccup was stood up on an elevated bit of wood so he could be seen by everyone in the back. What he saw back at Old Berk, and what's going on with Astrid, was simply far too deadly for him to keep to himself.

Finally, everyone inside the vibrant, colour painted, entirely wooden hall quietened down. This allowed Hiccup to proceed on wards as Blavery's body was resting on a wooden bench behind everyone on the long table.

Oddly enough, this scenario at the moment was similar to that time Hiccup gave a speech to the Berkians surrounding the threat of Grimmel, shortly after the 'Night Fury killer' invaded his house and destroyed it, nearly killing him. Hiccup himself was having flashbacks to that speech. But whilst he knew what threat he was talking about back then, when it came to what he saw on Old Berk shortly before Blavery came onto his boat, he literally didn't have a single clue.

"Okay..." Hiccup said, gulping with emotion as the thought of Astrid in deadly danger poked at him in his chest, "this is a very dangerous situation we've got on our hands. Astrid's not here, because she's missing...and where she's missing is the source of the situation..."

Audible gasps could be heard from the vikings in the hall.

"Berk...has been taken over..."

"WHAT?!" one Berkian said, from the corner of the crowd, as the audible gasps echoed louder and louder.

"Berk's been taken over...by a whole bunch of different people. Now I dunno who they are or where they came from, but when we sailed there earlier today to try and bring back Astrid, they had tons of boats coming our way, and they yelled at us to stay still, or something, so they could get us...they sounded very violent..." Hiccup revealed, looking directly down to the wooden surface he was stood on, trying to not cry over Astrid not being here and in danger.

"IT'S BEEN TAKEN OVER?! I THOUGHT EVERYONE LEFT?!" another tough sounding Berkian yelled, as the crowd of them started talking all at the same time, quiet enough for Hiccup to respond.

"I thought that too...but something's gone on...I dunno what it is that's happened on the old island, but they've got my wife, and I've been crying over it, I've been worried sick...whoever they are, they've got Astrid firmly in their grasp, but I just couldn't get to it without putting my kids in danger..." Hiccup conceded, gulping.

Eret and Gobber both stood up and joined Hiccup at the front of the wood-scented hall, in front of the hundreds and thousands-looking of Berkians.

"The fact some cowardly little nobodies took camp upon the old island, as Hiccup's said here," Eret said, "just shows how easy it'll be to take it back...it's probably just a little group of them, who's decided to play hardball to keep us from returning. You've said it yourself, Hiccup; we may have been on this island for a whole ten years now, but Berk has always been the home of seven generations of you guys. It's in nobody's right to take it from you. But those nobodies who've taken over it, I genuinely don't have the fondest idea over who they'd be, or..." Eret admitted.

Grimmel and Drago were dead, their armadas and men were defeated years ago, so who could it possibly be, who's taken camp upon Old Berk? (none of them know about the fact that Berk actually isn't Berk anymore; it's formal name for the past decade has been 'The Viking's Mentra').

"Imagine what Stoick would be like...he'd be losing his marbles over this..." Gobber said, as he too took a big stance besides Hiccup in front of everyone.

Everyone on the wooden table was deprived of their energy because of Astrid being missing; Snotlout and the twins weren't in the mood to be their usual selves. Without any dragons nowadays, a situation like this had to be taken more seriously than it'd usually be if the dragons were still here. In fact, it was dangerous, because Astrid's life was at stake, unless they find her and retrieve her quickly enough.

"But I just wanted to let you all know...we might have to try and sail back there and find Astrid in force. I can't let my wife be out there, in unknown hands, where her life is possibly at risk."

There were some reluctant expressions within the hall.

"BUT WE DON'T HAVE DRAGONS ANYMORE, WHAT CAN WE POSSIBLY DO?!" one Berkian yelled.

"I'll tell you what we can do..." Valka said, sitting up from the wooden table to join Eret, Gobber and Hiccup in front of the crowd.

Her voice caused everyone to be silent.

"Yes, the island looked drastically different from when we were all there...yes, there's some unknown people on it. But I was taken away for 20 years, and do you know what I did? I ended up coming out stronger by the time Hiccup found me..I was much more stronger, I was much more able, and I learnt a bunch of stuff...not just about dragons, but myself as a person...the point here is that we, living up to our names as the vikings of New Berk and or Old Berk, must step into the unknown so we can come out on the other side the stronger ones. Astrid is at risk, we must do what Hiccup says to go and save her..."

There were some approving looks from some of the Berkians in the crowd of the hall. Gradually, more and more of them started brightening up to the idea after discussing it briefly around the hall amongst their little groups. Hiccup looked around, and saw some applauds generating, to the point it was getting louder. Valka's message had clearly inspired them of their image and who they were and are, as vikings of Berk and New Berk.

"You'll struggle..." a stuttering voice emitted from behind, near the wooden table with everyone else sat on it.

Hiccup turned around to a woken Blavery, who was still in pain, but it was extremely mild and minimal in comparison to what it was before collapsing.

"QUIET, EVERYONE, HE'S AWAKE..." Hiccup yelled, standing besides the bench with Blavery on it so everyone in the hall could glare at him.

"When I woke up...for a moment...I thought I was in one of the isolation camps...a-am I?" Blavery questioned, his memory evidently too weak to recall that he was successfully brought up from the waters by Hiccup.

"A what camp?" Hiccup asked.

"Can you tell us what's going on here, what's happened to Berk?!" Gobber asked.

"Hold on everyone, hold on, take a few steps back...let him speak..." Hiccup said, gesturing for everyone to slowly step back.

The crowd of Berkians all around the hall remained perfectly quiet to let this wounded viking speak; Hiccup knew that this guy would have answers as to what's gone on on Berk.

"Okay, so I'm not...but you guys...you don't get it, none of you...you don't understand the system that's generated on that land..." Blavery said.

"Uh, I'm Hiccup, by the way, and this is our whole tribe..."

"I'm Gobber, former liver, I guess...uh, on that island..."

"My name's Blavery Borhid, I...ouch..." Blavery moaned, his leg briefly stinging from moving ever so slowly.

"Wait a minute...you're Hiccup Haddock?" Blavery asked.

Hiccup picked up Blavery's name, but he was surprised that Blavery knew his full name.

"You know my name? how?" Hiccup asked.

"Everyone within the Mentranian leadership knows of you, the people I and my fellow defenders who're still under the regime have to speak to, they occasionally talk about you because they see the past as a poison to their island..."

"I'm sorry, a what leadership? was that gibberish?" Eret asked, as he was confused just as much as Hiccup.

"What regime? what's happened to my wife, what do you mean isolation camps, what's happened to the island?" Hiccup asked.

Hiccup was getting alarmed at all these new terminologies; 'Mentranian', and 'regime', which sounded dangerous.

"Son, let him speak, he'll give us the answers we need..." Valka said, patting Hiccup on the shoulder.

The hundreds and thousands of Berkians in the hall remained silent; Blavery was at the middle of the hall's attention, in light of the implication that Old Berk has been taken over by some sort of 'regime', as Blavery himself said.

"Ten years ago...after you guys defeated Grimmel, his death prompted those who were imprisoned by his men to stage a rebellion...one man led this rebellion, and his ten year old son at the time, called Hawkon, was the one he was determined to protect the most. They succeeded, and when those apart of the rebellion killed what remained of Grimmel's men, they all snatched whatever gear or equipment they could find in his armada platforms, before swimming away collectively."

"They all eventually swam to Mentra, and-"

"Mentra, I'm sorry for interrupting, but where is and what's Mentra?" Gobber asked.

"Well I'm gonna assume, from what I heard a few moments ago, that you guys used to call Mentra 'Berk'...it's not been 'Berk' for a decade, it's been formally called 'The Viking's Mentra'."

"W-Wait, so our own, generational island's been renamed, I thought they were just a tiny camp of people?" Gobber responded.

"Oh, Mentra is far from a tiny camp of people..it's bigger than that. I'll tell you about it after I explain what you all really want to hear..." Blavery said, returning to explaining to the Hooligans the backstory of the Mentranian regime taking formation on Old Berk.

Gobber and Hiccup looked like they were hypnotised, they were that shocked at what they were hearing from Blavery.

"They swam to what you guys used to call Berk, and took settlement on there. They all saw the man with the ten year old son as their leader, as he was the one who led the rebellion against Grimmel's men, and so, he was primarily in charge of their direction on the island before it was even a regime...they demolished everything, they got rid of everything colourful, they deliberately demolished whatever you guys built on it during your time there, and that's when they started building their borders, everything...they burnt down the forest to make living space for the people...and then as the years went on, more militaristic formations happened, Hawkon's father created a separate force of vikings to defend the island, and it went from a peaceful group to a closed off, isolated, cult of personality way of living.." Blavery said.

"But who's Hawkon?"

"Well, they call him Hawkon the Second nowadays because he was seen, from the moment the Mentranian viking regime was formed, as the heir to his dad's position as leader. He's 20 years old now. They groomed him to prepare him for the position, and as we speak, Hawkon the Second currently rules with an iron fist over the island, The Viking's Mentra..."

"So our island...has become a cult of personality sort of...dictatorship?!" Hiccup alarmingly asked.

"Precisely. You dare to speak out, you're sent to the isolation camps. You question the leadership, you're sent to the camps. You try to escape as I luckily did today, you're most likely executed in those camps. Every single viking that lives under that regime barely eats enough by the end of the week to cure their hunger...you're assigned boundaries across the gigantic village, including where the forest used to be before they burnt it down-"

"They burnt the forest down?!" Hiccup asked again, his heart having a major ache at that; if it was true, then that meant...the historical cove where he and Toothless bonded, no longer existed...this wasn't helping him in how he was already feeling about Astrid.

"Yes. They burnt it down to make living space, because as the years went by, everyone on the island started having children, and those children nowadays are taught to hate any outside tribe, and to worship Hawkon's leadership and just generally, Mentra's leadership for the rest of their lives..." Blavery said.

"So let me get this straight...Berk isn't actually Berk now, it's a whole island's worth of new folks, of a new kind, 'Mentranians' you say, and it's become an isolated viking dictatorship where you can get KILLED for speaking out against the leader?" Eret asked.

"Yes." Blavery stuttered, still feeling painful.

"S-so what about my wife, is she going to be okay?" Hiccup asked.

"Well...as I used to be a Mentranian defender, I was filled in on the policies and the way to cope with 'foreigner scum' as they call those who'd sail towards the island who come from outside areas. Simply put, your wife is probably in one of the camps as we speak, because she infiltrated the island-"

"No...no way, NOOO...THERE'S JUST NO WAY, MUM?!" Hiccup asked, looking to Valka, as the Chieftan felt like he was going to lose his composure.

"I'm so sorry, Haddock...the Mentranian leadership are the ones with the background of being imprisoned by Grimmel, and some even by Drago, and many of them use this in their propaganda schoolings and just all over the island to strengthen the cult of personality...they call their escape from being imprisoned a 'liberation of our sovereign people', and that's precisely what Hawkon the Second spoke of when he became leader...they're firmly opposed to Drago and Grimmel, even though they were killed ages ago..."

An emotionally weakened Hiccup felt a glimmer of hope at hearing that.

"So they're technically on our side then? if so, can't we just go over there and talk to them?"

"Well..." Blavery sighed, he didn't want to pour any doom and gloom on the hopes of Hiccup, but he felt like he had to for his own good, "here's the thing...they see _every_ tribe, mainly due to their background, as their enemy, in the same calibre as Drago and Grimmel, meaning they see your tribe as just as bad as those two, as they would for any other tribe...they just don't negotiate at all, either..."

"Oh no, mum, oh no, mum...Astrid's under the capture of a closed off regime on OUR island...I wish my dad was here because I can't co-cope..." Hiccup broke down with tears as he hugged Valka, who in turn hugged Hiccup back, to try and calm him down, "I can't lose Astrid like I lost dad...I just can't..." he said, crying like a waterfall, he was that apprehensive and scared of 'Mentra' as it's called, killing Astrid.

Every single viking in the hall of New Berk remained silent, as did everyone on the long wooden table; this was a shocking moment, not only to hear that Berk has been turned into a cult of personality dictatorship, but because of that, Astrid's life is in serious trouble.

"Hawkon the Second, personally, is much more extremist than his father was...from the moment he took over as leader he's turned the island into a much more militaristic cult of personality...he's currently working on a deterrent of dragons, and...within the overseers party they have, a party that makes ruling decisions under his watch, basically running Mentra, they're speeding on with that defence program as we speak...but not just the party, but those close to Hawkon are also a huge influence...Fludgeon the Feared, the new Chieftan of the Berserkers, and Gustav Larson..."

"Fludgeon the Feared? the new Chieftan of the Berserkers?" Eret questioned, as Hiccup suddenly raised his crying face up at the mentioning of that last name from Blavery.

"Yeah. He calls the Berserkers the 'resurgent Berserkers', because they disposed of Dagur, the old Chieftan, due to him supposedly making peace treaties with you guys..they must've been angry with Dagur the Deranged when he was alive, for ever making peace with you...they've signed a pact with the Mentranian regime to keep it alive and from collapsing, so they can ultimately stop you lot from ever regaining what you used to call 'Berk' again."

"And this Hawkon fellow...have I seen him or known of him before? he sounds like somebody who could quite relate to Drago or Grimmel, two men I've long known..." Eret asked.

"He's firmly opposed to Drago and Grimmel-"

"I'm sorry, Eret...for interrupting..." Hiccup said, wiping his face of the tears, "did I just mishear something, Blavery? who was the last person you mentioned?"

"Who, Gustav Larson?"

Audible gasps were heard from everyone on the long wooden table.

"Gustav?!" Snotlout echoed, widening his eyes.

"You guys...know him?" Blavery asked.

"W-Woah...of course we do, he used to be apart of us when he was younger...I...I..." Hiccup was lost for words.

"We haven't seen him for ten years, Hiccup..." Gobber said, "but...how has he popped up there, Blavery? what's he doing there?"

"He's only the second most powerful viking in the Mentranian regime basically, just below Hawkon...do you guys have history or something with him? you all look genuinely shocked to have heard his name...to me, when I was under Mentra, he was somebody you needed to worship and respect almost as much as you did Hawkon..."

With Gustav Larson's name being brought up in this whole debacle in the hall, Hiccup felt an entire aura of apprehension, like a thunder cloud, roam over the entire room...he didn't know how much more information he could take before doing something stupid to himself. But he secretly knew that this was stuff he needed to know, if he was going to ever save Astrid from this brutal regime Blavery talks of.

"Gustav used to look up to me, as the role model...and I still believe I am, wouldn't you say, guys?" Snotlout said, standing up, showing off his fists.

"N-No?" Gobber said, secretly gesturing for Snotlout to keep quiet, and to refrain from making stupid comments during this serious moment.

At that, Snotlout sat back down.

"When I last saw him, he was ecstatic at the fact that the regime had captured your wife, Astrid, and he said something about you guys banishing him for a disagreement..." Blavery shrugged.

Hiccup gulped; ten years on, and Gustav clearly hasn't forgotten what happened back then. But if that's the case, and Gustav was supposedly ecstatic at Astrid being captured...did that mean that he was a firm advocate for whatever treatment she'd be receiving from the regime? Hiccup honestly felt like collapsing at this point. But he remembered the situation with Gustav like it was yesterday, very well.

"Yeah...he...it was when we released our dragons to The Hidden World...basically, he..."

* * *

_Ten years ago_

_"It's okay..." Hiccup said, leaning his head against Toothless's nostrils as the dragon emitted a saddened sound, with Hiccup holding onto the Night Fury by the top of his head and his chin, "I love you too...and I want you to be free..."_

_At that, Toothless emitted a soft, soothing guilt squeal...it sounded deep in emotion and sadness. The dragon's emerald eyes, shiny with rampant emotion, glared at Hiccup as the Chieftan stroked the dragon's black, scaly, silky head gently and slowly. He hopped backwards slightly on his real leg, with his metal leg long lost into the waters after Grimmel pulled it off before falling to his death._

_"Our world doesn't deserve you...yet..." Hiccup said._

_Toothless looked to his side where the Light Fury was, before looking back at his best bud._

_"W-What is he doing?" Gustav whispered, holding onto Fanghook with great fear that his dragon was about to fly away, all because of the actions of Hiccup right now._

_Toothless gently leapt up and curled his paws all around Hiccup, embracing his best friend with a human-style hug. Hiccup wrapped his arms around the areas of Toothless's forelegs, to near his wings, as he squeezed his best bud with the biggest hug possible, as a way to say goodbye. _

_Hiccup's head was directly next to Toothless's closed eyes, as the dragon emitted slow, low purrs. Hiccup had tears coming down his cheeks. _

_"Go, Toothless..." Hiccup whispered, "go..." he said one last time, slowly removing his palm from the middle of Toothless's head, looking like a reverse bond touch._

_At that, Toothless roared and spread his wings wide open, and as a result, all of the dragons flew up into the air, leaving their vikings, to head for The Hidden World._

_They all watched on in awe as their dragons left for the final time. The Light Fury purred at Toothless before running off the edge, quickly flying up into the air like a kite._

_Fanghook suddenly extended his wings, and as Gustav reluctantly said goodbye to him, the Monstrous Nightmare flew up, again in the flow of a kite, into the air as he joined his fellow reptiles in heading for The Hidden World._

_"Did that really have to happen?!" he angrily said, as the other dragons flew away; Astrid and Hiccup were at the front of the crowd._

_Toothless, standing right near the edge ahead of Hiccup and Astrid, looked back at the vikings, and Hiccup in particular; he smiled at his best bud for the last time, with Hiccup giving a subtle nod to the Night Fury. At that, Toothless leapt into the air and finally flew with the other dragons to The Hidden World, leaving Hiccup for good._

_Gustav rushed through everyone as they were emotional, to get right up to Hiccup and Astrid. _

_"How stupid are you, seriously?" he said._

_Hiccup looked at Gustav with immediate anger, as did Astrid. The last thing they needed was somebody playing up during this emotional moment._

_"What are you talking about, Gustav?" Hiccup asked._

_"You've just sent all our dragons away...FOR WHAT PURPOSE?! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SEND THEM AWAY AFTER WE DEFEATED DRAGO?! GRIMMEL WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE THREAT DRAGO WAS, AND YET YOU'VE JUST LET THEM GO...HOW PATHETIC AND STUPID ARE YOU?!" Gustav said, yelling slightly._

_"Go away and stop ruining the moment for us. They needed to leave, it's for their own protection." Astrid said._

_"FOR THEIR OWN PROTECTION?! THEY WERE MORE AT RISK WITH DRAGO. HERE, YOUR GENIUS OF A HUSBAND HERE HAS JUST LET THEM GO BECAUSE OF A SLENDER, OLD MAN WITH A CROSSBOW. DRAGO WAS MORE DANGEROUS AND THREATENING. WHY DID THEY NEED TO GO BECAUSE OF GRIMMEL, IF HE WASN'T THE THREAT DRAGO WAS?!" Gustav yelled._

_"Don't yell in my face again, Gustav. Our dragons have just left, show some respect." Hiccup said, keeping calm in dignity as the reality of Toothless leaving him hit home hard._

_Mr and Mrs Larson, two old vikings at this point, came from the crowd as they were utterly shocked at the audacity of Gustav during this precious moment. Gustav, meanwhile, couldn't believe the sheer stupidity from his view, of Hiccup sending the dragons away due to a guy who was nowhere near as threatening as Drago was. The sun was shining hard from the grey afternoon clouds on this mountain, as everyone looked to the situation unfolding._

_"RESPECT?! HERE'S YOUR RESPECT..." Gustav yelled, shoving Hiccup with quite some force. _

_"GUSTAV, KNOCK IT OFF NOW!" his father said, with Gobber quickly skipping in in order to prevent Hiccup from retaliating._

_"DAD, MUM, IF YOU'RE AGREEING WITH SUCH AN IDIOTIC MOVE, THEN YOU'VE GOT THE SAME LEVEL OF INTELLIGENCE AS HIM. TELL YOU WHAT, STOICK WOULD'VE BEEN GLAD THAT HE DIED SO HE WOULDN'T HAVE TO WITNESS SUCH STUPIDITY!"_

_At that, audible gasps were heard as the last sight of the dragons in the distance disappeared. Gustav shoved his father away after his father tried grabbing him, again looking to strike Hiccup due to the sheer anger he had over what he thought was a stupid move; because of Hiccup, Fanghook was gone._

_A couple of vikings rushed into the commotion to hold Gustav by the arms, as his parents looked more than angered, especially after shoving Mr Larson._

_"Get him out of here. You think you can come and act this way to me, to your parents, at a time when we've just LET OUR DRAGONS GO FOR THEIR SAFETY?!" Hiccup yelled._

_Gustav simply spat in his face. At that, the parents had more than enough. They were utterly angered and ashamed of Gustav at this point that they were willing to banish him for a while, and Hiccup was more than determined to go through with that, in light of his behaviour at such a precious, significant moment in the history of the tribe._

* * *

"And basically...that was the last time we ever saw him...but is he really apart of this...uh...isolated cult of personality on Berk?" Hiccup asked, after revealing Gustav's backstory, and why he was banished.

"Very much so. Hawkon's father took him in when he found out he was banished, and Larson himself was a constructive person in the early days, and it's shown. He's got as much power over the defence force as Hawkon does at this point."

"Wait...did you say that those guys on the island...the regime or whatever, are building a dragon deterrent?" Eret asked.

"They're calling it the defence program. Basically, they're on Dragon Island right now, forcefully breeding the wild dragons remaining, together so they can get the eggs, and that's 'Phase one'. 'Phase two' will be to train the hatched babies from the moment they're out their eggs. Mentra wants a deterrent that'll prevent any tribe from trying to destroy their regime, and Hawkon wants to remain in power for decades to come."

"I'll tell you what, we aren't gonna let them get away with that." Eret suggested, prompting Hiccup to do the same, and Hiccup himself was starting to recover slightly.

"Yeah, if they're harming dragons like that, to create some sort of deterrent to keep themselves immune or whatever, they aren't any better than Drago or Grimmel." Hiccup said, speaking slightly louder than usual.

"In my view, if you really want to save your wife, alongside destroying that regime from the outside, as I do, your best bet is to stop their development of that defence program. And I'll gladly help you guys out whenever you do that." Blavery declared.


	14. Readying up

**CHAPTER 14: Readying up**

Hiccup and the gang were inside his house. They were planning out, with Blavery's help, the way in which they'll sneak onto Dragon Island and destroy Mentra's progress on its defence program which will, should the program succeed, lead to it acquiring a dragon deterrent.

The plan was for Zephyr and Nuffink to remain on New Berk with Valka and Gobber, whilst Hiccup and everyone else go out to destroy Mentra's program; it was a dangerous mission, so Hiccup obviously didn't want Zephyr and Nuffink at risk.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Eret, alongside a dozen or more Berkians wandering outside Hiccup's house waiting for him, were going to go on the mission. Blavery was going to come along as well, since he's pretty much an insider from the Mentranian regime, providing Hiccup and co with information that'll help in the future collapsing of the regime.

"Okay you guys," Hiccup said, with everyone gathered around a single table, with Blavery sat next to Hiccup, "do you know what we're dealing with here?"

"I think so...uh..." Fishlegs stuttered.

He slowly shrugged his shoulders. He was pretty scared of going on this mission, but that was because he hasn't been on one for a decade, his last one being the one where he, alongside everyone, stopped Grimmel and saved the dragons.

"I'll tell you all, because I'm the smart one, and I was actually listening back there..." Snotlout said, slowly leaning towards Fishlegs with his head as he said that, implying that Fishlegs wasn't listening back at the hall, "we're dealing with some randomers who've took over Berk...tadah?"

"Exactly, Snotlout. We need to take this seriously, because Astrid is still under their hands." Hiccup said.

"What if I just sort of talk em out of it, like I did with Grimmel? I've so many topics to cover with them?" Ruffnut said.

"Sis, what on earth could _you_ of all people do?" Tuffnut shrugged.

"Well I was making friends with Grimmel when he imprisoned me, and then because he liked me so much afterwards, he let me fly away on that dragon. I can do the same with whoever these people are on Berk? I'm naturally likeable, after all?"

"You're one to say that?" Tuffnut laughed.

"Guys, guys, let's just focus on the issue in hand." Hiccup said, waving for everyone to stay on topic due to the significance of the situation, "now Blavery here is going to come along with us, he's our source of information, and with his help, we ought to really rock and roll and destroy this thing from the outside. What do you say, Blavery?"

Blavery nodded at Hiccup, as his leg wasn't in pain anymore due to Hiccup's hospitality from earlier on causing it to heal via covering it with dragon scale-like robes.

"Of course. I want to destroy this regime after what it did to my family, not just myself, and not just the poor vikings who still suffer under it. Chances are, if I was captured and I hadn't been rescued by your well known, legendary Chief here," Blavery pointed at Hiccup, "I probably would've been executed. That's the type of thing we're up against here."

"Do these idiots have anything unique to them when it comes to the...you know...weapons?" Eret asked, curling his palms together on the table as he asked Blavery that question with an intent tone.

"They've created a venom similar to the one Grimmel used to have, that they now use in their crossbows. They originally created it to help with the defence program, but they've since started using it as a disciplinary sort of thing, to enforce the cult of personality and policies. One hit by that and you're knocked out cold, but apart from that, they pretty much have the standard stuff." Blavery said.

"Deathgripper venom?" Hiccup asked.

"Not exactly. Because they stole all of the equipment of Grimmel's men during the time they rebelled from their imprisonment, they managed to find like a tiny vial of that exact venom. They used that sample to make their own equivalent, matching it as close as possible to the type Grimmel used, and they've started making more of it. They've actually only just managed to create it, it's been something the regime, and in particular, the leadership has been seeking from the day Mentra was founded."

"So what do you suggest we do to counter this?" Eret asked.

"The best thing to do, for us all, and the other vikings of yours joining us, is to gear up with thick equipment. The arrows that the Mentranians use can't impale thickly designed gear, like dragon scale material." Blavery said, "it's why most of them wear overhead black scale see through robes over their heads, so they don't get hit by it."

"Dragon scale material?" Hiccup once again asked.

"Yes. I don't suppose any of you have that?"

Hiccup felt himself beam up internally; of course he and the gang here had something like that.

"You know what, Blavery, why don't you just wait in here for a moment, we'll show you something..." Hiccup said.

"What, where're we going?" Tuffnut asked.

"Just come, Tuff. It'll be worth it, I think we may already have the answer to that particular issue with the venom." Hiccup replied, gesturing for everyone to follow him.

Blavery proudly remained put inside the hut as everyone else walked out with Hiccup.

"You're handsome, by the way..." Ruffnut said, as she walked out.

"Oh?" Blavery responded, unsure as to how to respond to that.

He simply shrugged his shoulders and looked back down at the table as everyone left.

He was curious about what Hiccup had in mind. He felt extremely proud of himself at this point that he was contributing with the Hooligans to bring down the Mentranian regime. He had faith in Hiccup Haddock, and just seeing him in person made him feel even prouder to have escaped that ruthless regime.

* * *

About five minutes later, Blavery heard Hiccup's door open, and in they came, one by one. But they were wearing specific gear, gear that created an aura of nostalgia. Blavery turned around in his chair to look at everyone in their colourful looking gear, which appeared to be made mostly from dragon scales.

It was their wing suits. Hiccup's Toothless wing suit was as pure black as ever, with the scales on it shining to the point some of them resembled whiteness. He flipped the helmet over his face, fully protecting himself within the fire-proof armour, showcasing that particular aspect of it to Blavery.

Fishlegs was in his Meatlug wing suit, his shoulders somewhat towering his forehead as the crystal clear scales of Meatlug shone massively. The small dots of purple, covered majorly by golden coloured scales, gave Fishlegs in his fire-proof wing suit an appearance of vibrancy.

Snotlout's Hookfang wing suit, with a scaly round cover around his neck resembling a dragon's fin in fire orange, with the lower bit, dangling from underneath it in a shinier lime colour, again looked vibrant as he stood in dignity in the wing suit. He had always thought that his wing suit looked the best out of everyone else.

Eret and the twins also had their wing suits on. And as they stood there in the hut, right in front of Blavery as he was in awe at just the pure colouration of the gear the guys were wearing, they looked exactly like they did 10 years ago, in terms of age. Even with Hiccup having the beard, having his wing suit on again made him look like himself from 10 years ago.

"What do ya think? think these could work well?" Hiccup said, pulling his helmet up so Blavery could see his face.

"I don't believe it...you guys look like humanoid dragons, that's actually amazing..." Blavery said.

"Nothing a bit of dragon scales and painting couldn't handle. I'm just glad we've potentially found a reason to have these on again after a long time." Hiccup said.

Blavery stood up from the chair.

"Yeah, they look perfect. The scales look like pure dragon ones. You'll most definitely be secure from any impaling, at least, that's what I hope. I just need one now."

"You don't have to physically join us when we set foot on the island. You can stay on the boat?" Hiccup said, walking towards Blavery a bit.

"No way. I want to play as much of a part as possible in bringing down the abomination that is Mentra. It's just unfortunate that I didn't leave with the gear that they usually have for the defenders on the defence program. It had a see through, black dragon scale-like cover."

"Maybe there's some spare gear around here that I can find for you, if you're insisting on actually stepping foot onto the island with us." Hiccup offered.

"Yeah sis, give him yours?" Tuffnut said.

"Back off, why don't you surrender yourself?"

"Seeing as you fancy him, I'd have thought you'd be the one to offer it up?"

Ruffnut simply nodded a no.

"Wait, Hiccup..." Blavery said, walking towards the gang in their dragon wing suit gear.

"Probably a stupid question, but...is it true that at one point, you actually had a Night Fury?"

"Very much so. Look at my gear, it resembles Toothless's pattern and uh..you know, general colour."

"Toothless? was that his name?" Blavery, fascinated, asked.

"That was his name indeed. How did you get to know that I used to have him?" Hiccup asked.

"Again, the Mentranians spoke particularly of you quite often when I was in their meetings, and also because you used to be the chief of that island before they came along and turned it into Mentra. I think where they've gotten this knowledge from, at the top of the leadership, is Gustav Larson himself, given he's had history with you guys and used to be with you as a friend I guess."

Hiccup wanted to avoid talking about Gustav. He just couldn't face even acknowledging him given how he's supposedly turned out nowadays. Larson will be someone to deal with in the future, not right now.

"But yeah, I called him that because he had retractable teeth. I actually reunited with him when I took my family towards The Hidden World after we found out they flew here during our Snoggletog Pageant fairly recently. With-" Hiccup stopped himself.

Hiccup didn't want to get into a deep conversation about his family, because otherwise he'd feel demotivated to do this mission, reason being is that Astrid's potential danger would get to him in his heart, and so far, he's done a good job of avoiding letting that knock him down emotionally.

"Just amazing, you guys are honestly so amazing. What about the rest of you?"

"Yeah, they all had their own dragons as well."

"You could've at least let me say my dragon's name to him? his name was Hookfang, he was the fire dragon...the only one out of em all!" Snotlout yelled, tapping his red, Hookfang wing suit with a proud feeling.

"It's just amazing, all of this...just to hear it all. At Mentra, the regulars there are strictly forbidden in having their own dragons, you know, like a cult of personality regime would naturally do so. None of them have any. It's ironic because they're seeking to use those very same things as a deterrent force."

"If I'm honest, I'm not surprised at that, given what I've heard of 'Mentra' so far." Hiccup said.

"Yeah. There's some dragons that're used only by the leadership for a few aspects of the everyday life, but the regulars having their own is strictly banned, and has been from the moment Hawkon's father began forming the regime. They have these giant crossbows aimed at the skies around the border 24/7 to shoot down any dragons that enter their airspace, so you can kinda...you know." Blavery shrugged.

"The audacity they seem to have...we best get a move on and put an end to it." Hiccup said, "come with us and we'll find some spare gear for you, and then we'll round up everyone to sail the way to the island."

Blavery nodded, but as he walked up to follow Hiccup and the gang, he had a genuine warning for them.

"Don't underestimate these guys, Hiccup, their ideology and their cult of personality makes them formidable and determined vikings. They'll strike when you least expect it, and they're completely merciless."

"Trust me, they'll find out what it's like to under-estimate a group seeking to reclaim their island. They may be fanatics to the level of Grimmel and Drago, but Berk was and is our historical home, they aren't gonna keep it for long."

At that, everybody left Hiccup's hut.


	15. Island of bodies

**CHAPTER 15: Island of bodies**

Monstrous Nightmares, Gronckles, Deadly Nadders, all of varying colours, wingless, either on their sides or their front, on the stone cold grounds of Dragon Island, scattered like sprinkles, were all that could be seen within the foggy, historical island. The arrows that impaled them with the venom initially were still hooked onto their bodies. At this point, you may as well just rename the island 'Dead Dragon Island'.

Casually turning the island into a surface graveyard of wild dragons with proudness, the Mentranians had a whole range of wooden tables near the shore that they sailed to, with those tables having various coloured dragon eggs on them. The plan was for the Mentranians to keep the eggs here with themselves during the duration of phase one, and then when it's completed, they'll take the eggs back to Mentra to commence phase two. They had a firm plan in place for working towards the dragon deterrent.

Guddorn was roaming the island, walking past the dead, impaled, and poisoned dragons in light of his crew forcing all of the reptiles to breed together before killing them, subsequently taking the eggs. He was expecting phase one to be completed by the end of the week, but progress has exceeded major expectations in terms of speed.

As the leader of the program, he had all the confidence in the world of its prospects, in light of the progress. He was initially going to be the leader of phase one, not two, but the overseers party on Mentra has since given him the true top role of overseeing _all _of it, after hearing back on the progress being made under his watch.

Guddorn was walking past the dead reptiles, ticking the number of dragons that have been forcefully bred, and killed, on a wooden notepad with paper, to record the numbers they've dealt with. And he's also wrote down the species of them. He was coming up to a couple of Mentranians fully patrolling the vicinity as well, as they looked to report on how the phase was going thus far.

"Guddorn, sir." the Mentranian on the left saluted, lowering his crossbow.

"Good work so far, gentlemen." Guddorn nodded, appreciating the gesture.

"Indeed. We've managed to breed about 20 or so eggs out of them at this point." the Mentranian subsequently said.

"And you did dispose of them right afterwards?" Guddorn asked, looking up as he took notes on the wooden pad.

"Yeah. We've made sure of that entirely. Not a single one around here on the ground is alive."

Guddorn nodded with a brief smirk.

"And also," the other Mentranian said, "given that we've gotten the amount of eggs we have, we can safely say that we won't need much more time to complete this phase. We can probably conclude it tomorrow and take the eggs back to the paradise then."

"Good." Guddorn proudly said, "who knows, when we get to phase two, these guys won't just become our deterrent...they can help us all personally, fetch us stuff, and just be our reptilian servants..." he chuckled, prompting a collective chuckle from the two men in front of him.

* * *

Three boats worth of Berkians, the front one containing Hiccup and the gang, with Blavery, who now has his own scaly gear equipped, were sailing their ways across the vast waters leading towards Mentra. But they weren't actually heading to Mentra. They were going to Dragon Island to put an end to the Mentranian development of a dragon deterrent.

Blavery sat at the front of the boat whilst Hiccup, Fishlegs, Eret, etc, all remained in the middle amongst each other. Blavery was just trying to come up with the best way possible of approaching the island without catching the attention of the Mentranians straight away.

And it was that question of 'how should we do this?' that prompted Hiccup to walk up to Blavery, as the defected Mentranian adjusted his gear and ensured it was all stable and arrow-proof. Fishlegs looked petrified, even in his wing suit, the rest looked solemn as the waters wobbled the boats slightly.

"Blavery?" Hiccup asked, looking like a resurrection of his past self from wearing his Toothless wing suit in its entirety, "how should we go about approaching these guys?"

Blavery turned to Hiccup.

"We can't afford to just sail directly towards the area of the island they're on, wherever it may be, Hiccup. We need to come in from the side and approach them on-land from a distance. Wait, did we take any weaponry of our own?" Blavery asked, his chest suddenly aching.

"You think we were gonna come to this without weaponry? I've brought along the battleaxe Astrid used to fight with, the guys have their own stuff."

"Yeah, I guess that was pretty stupid of me to assume. There's a ton of stuff going through my head at the moment, and to be honest, I'm still feeling the horror of getting out free from Mentra. It's...not nice. It's somewhat hurt my ability to think straight."

"You're safe with us, and will continue to be so once we've sorted these guys out." Hiccup pledged, patting Blavery on the shoulder.

"I just hope we don't do something we'll regret later on. They aren't as weak as you're assuming, Hiccup."

"We'll soon find out, one way or another. I want Astrid back, so we'll go through whatever it takes."

Blavery wasn't so sure that it'd be that easy. But he was still determined to bring down the Mentranian viking regime externally, with Hiccup's help.

* * *

After another hour, and subsequently sailing through a maze of fog, Hiccup, Eret, Blavery, everyone, the three boats, had all arrived to Dragon Island. Blavery was in a semi-stood up position at the front, readying himself for the danger that lies ahead as soon as he and the Hooligans sail out of this fog.

Suddenly, the entirety of the fog dissipated, and as the three Hooligan boats sailed into the clear, a land of rocky nature could be seen, with a bunch of folks walking on it and patrolling, looking menacing with a bunch of wooden tables set out near the shores, with colourful eggs.

Hiccup hadn't been back here for years, so to see it empty, and looking collapsed, (no surprise with that one due to the carnage the Red Death gave to the whole landscape of this previously-valuable island, before her death), was another flashbacker for him. But with it seemingly occupied by the folks with the wooden tables, patrolling about, it had the same feeling as Hiccup was given when he first saw Old Berk when trying to find Astrid some time ago; it just felt different.

"DUCK! GET DOWN GUYS!" Blavery quietly yelled, dropping chest first onto the hard wooden surface of the boat.

Hiccup & co did the same; before Hiccup dropped down to his chest, he gestured with one single palm for the other two boats behind, for everyone on board them, to duck down as well.

"Ouch...I can't...breath..." Fishlegs coughed, after hitting the wood harshly.

"QUIET, THEY'RE LITERALLY OVER THERE..." Blavery demanded, hiding directly in front of the wooden sides of the boat from the view of the Mentranians.

As all the Hooligans remained flat on their chests on all three boats, Hiccup was wondering why they were doing this; the Mentranians could quite clearly see that there were three boats heading their way to the island at this point, surely?

"Why are we doing this?" Hiccup whispered, gesturing for everyone to remain as quiet as possible in light of Blavery's reaction.

"They'll think that these boats are empty, like ghost boats...'ghost boats' being a term for boats that have been stranded on the waters with nobody on board for months, maybe years..but we're literally swaying on the waters towards them at the shore the moment, and that's far too dangerous...we need to head in a different direction. By us hiding on the floor like this, they'll most likely see the boats and think nothing of them because they'll look empty from their view..." Blavery whispered, sweating by the second.

Eret slowly raised his head up to glare at the grey, pebble-covered surface that was ahead of the shores; a ton of wooden tables were set up on the island, with colourful looking objects on them. A couple of figures came by the tables, and because the boats were so close to the shores, everyone was able to overhear the conversations being given by the Mentranians.

"GET DOWN!" Blavery whisper yelled, looking at Eret.

"They can't even see me, the bloody idiots...what have they got on those tables, and who sets tables outside on a gloomy, ancient, rocky island like this?" Eret asked himself.

"They're most likely the eggs they've been breeding from the dragons remaining on this place...they've probably killed them all already, we have to move-" Blavery shut himself up as he could hear a voice being echoed towards the boat from the island.

"Hey Larick, catch those three boats just over there?" a Mentranian asked, pointing at three medium sized boats with healthy looking sails, swaying on the waves of the seas very gently literally just a tiny bit outside the fog.

Larick looked at the boats as he stood near the wooden table, whilst his fellow Mentranians patrolled the other portions of the island.

"How did we not see em?" Larick asked.

"It's not even been that long. Think we should go and check em out?"

"Nah, not worth it. If anything, they appear to be empty boats with nothing on them. We'll get them once we've finished up with phase one."

"Alright then. It's just...weird..." the Mentranian said, glaring back at the boats as they gave off a spooky aura...how the heck were they able to, being supposedly empty boats, also known as 'ghost boats', sway on the seas to this direct area when he and his fellow Mentranians were on this island?

"Forget about them, we'll get them and use them as a way back once we've finished up here."

"Got it."

At that, both Larick and the Mentranian defender walked off back towards the area where all of the dead bodies of the wild dragons were, a bit further on the island from the shores.

"Oh my god...can you feel my heart? that was far too close." Blavery said, holding his palm to his chest.

"Hey sis, those guys looked taller than you...why not skip out and swim to them?" Tuffnut laughed, as he was laying on his ribs on the wooden surface of the boat.

"And yet they could throw you about like a feather, whereas I'm tough-" Ruffnut said, before being cut off.

"Will you two ever just shut the heck up?" Eret asked.

"I wanna go home..." Fishlegs stuttered.

"Guys, just calm down...I've never seen them before, but Blavery, they're clearly apart of that regime on the old island, right?"

"Affirmative. We need to sail away from this area before they see us..adjust the sails and get the heck away from here, we need to find a better way of getting onto the main land without being seen right away...there's huge numbers of them here, you just can't see beyond the shores at the moment..."

That was the first time Hiccup had heard the voice of what was known as 'Mentranians'. They were quite obviously vikings, but different kinds of vikings. They were very unpredictable in that regard. It was now up to him and Blavery to subtly and quietly adjust the sails so they could get to a better point on the island to step foot on its land.

* * *

After a good half hour of sailing around to get to the other end of the island due to everyone remaining on their chests, the three boats with Hiccup and the gang, including a decent chunk of Berkians, finally made a collision with their boats to the rocky, pebble-like land. They were all gradually kneeling and standing up as they got away from the area where the two Mentranians were standing half an hour ago.

"We're here, everyone. Let's get off quickly!" Hiccup yelled, as the two other boats behind similarly made a stop at the direct shores of the island, on either side of Hiccup's boat.

"QUIET, HICCUP, QUIET, we don't want to bring any attention upon us..." Blavery said, leaping off of the boat onto the pebble land of the island.

"Trust me buddy, we're going to be bringing our attention to them in a second." Eret declared, climbing off of the boat with dignity.

"Alright, everyone, let's just gather around and make most of the time we have before they come down here. We need a way of safely retrieving those eggs and drawing those guys off of here." Hiccup declared, as Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout all rallied besides Hiccup straight away.

Fishlegs was petrified. Snotlout didn't really have much of a feeling about it. The twins were still too focused in their internal battle of overcoming one another to realise what they were about to walk into. Eret, on the other hand, was treating this in the same manner he treated Grimmel and Drago, and as a large, puffed out viking, that meant he was going to be the perfect asset for the Berkians.

All of the Berkians, in their old-school fighting gear, briefly stood together in a choreographed-looking formation, with the shores and the boats directly behind them. Blavery, Hiccup and co were all standing in front of them.

They were on the same island as the Mentranians working on the defence program, time wasn't going to last any longer for the Berkians as a result, so they needed to be quick.

"Alright, we're all here. All of our wing suits ought to protect us from any form of arrows that they may or may not fire at us. Blavery, what do you suggest we do to make this a successful sort of...mission? I really want to find Astrid with this, as well..." Hiccup said, turning to Blavery, removing his face cover of his Toothless wing suit.

"First and foremost...given that they're in a pact with the Mentranians, there may or may not be a few Berserkers with them here as well..." Blavery said.

"Why are they here, if so? a new Chieftan of theirs doesn't automatically mean they're our enemy? we had a peace treaty?" Hiccup said.

"Remember what I said back at your island? Fludgeon executed Dagur in light of the Berserkers being unhappy at ever making peace with you guys. They're very much our enemy in this instance. But there aren't going to be a lot of them, thankfully, I'd say around two."

"I couldn't give two wings about them. If they're our enemy, they're our enemy...I'll slash em in the face and make em experience what it's like to have a full on rock pelted into your face." Eret said, more than willing to do physical combat with the Berserkers if they're truly here with the Mentranians.

"I'm honestly not sure about this...I'm really not..." Hiccup said, rubbing the back of his neck in hearing that there may be Berserkers here, who've turned back into the enemy again if it's true.

"Again...it's...well actually...think of it this way..the Mentranians are all required to keep the spirit and the cult of personality alive, that's the basis of Hawkon's power. If they ever hear anybody or a large amount of people chanting down the regime and calling it out for what it is, a heartless system that imprisons its own vikings and starves them, it'll really make their hearts ache, because they're then vulnerable to personally being punished by the regime for letting such statements get out without stopping them...so...we could perhaps march towards their area, and then when we're in their field of vision, we could chant out anti-Mentra stuff...the vulnerability they'd be put in would possibly prevent them from doing much?" Blavery said.

Hiccup sighed with a heavy chest.

"Alright, let's go and get em." he declared.

"Down with Mentra, return to Berk? that sounds effective to me?" Blavery said.

All the Berkians nodded and started walking in a huge group in their major numbers.

"Alright, we'll do it. Come on guys, let's put a stop to this, and let's go and save Astrid..." Hiccup declared.

They've yet to see the dead dragons on this island, on behalf of the Mentranians, but when they do, they'll already be in a closing distance to the Mentranians. Hiccup and the lot were gambling massively here, but he was willing to go through with it if it meant bringing down Mentra, and saving Astrid.


	16. Battle of the program

**CHAPTER 16: Battle of the program**

"Guys, look at this..." Snotlout said, just as he, alongside Hiccup and the rest, were making their way forwards in a formation.

They all walked up a slightly steep point before seeing what Snotlout was referring to. It instantly made Hiccup's heart ache.

"What the..." Hiccup, gulping with shock, uttered, as he walked up besides Snotlout to glare at the dead, but also wingless, Monstrous Nightmare.

"That's not Hookfang, is it?" Snotlout feared.

"It can't be...but...it's dead, and its wings are gone...what did they do to it?" Hiccup weakly asked, removing his wing suit face cover.

"We can do this to them if they've done it, maybe they should try and pick on people they're actually similar to? what do you say?" Eret suggested, feeling angered at the sight of the Monstrous Nightmare's body, after acknowledging that the Mentranians caused it.

"I would've thought that you'd expect this, Hiccup. They've been working on phase one of their defence program...part of that is inflicting their venom into the dragons, making them wingless afterwards to make the next part easier, and then they...you get it." Blavery said.

All of the Hooligans on the task gathered around the Monstrous Nightmare's body. All of them were as taken aback as the other. Fishlegs was especially. And it seemed to be the case now that the twins were shut up, at the sight of the reptile.

"They...did this? it looks so...coordinated, like, they literally chopped the wings off of it...the poor dragon must've been in tremendous pain after that. The absolute fanatics. The...these guys aren't human, I'm gonna say that right now. If they're doing stuff like this to dragons...they're more than fanatics. They're murderers and cowards." Hiccup, enraged with anger, said.

But this was also like a sadistic preview for Hiccup, of the Mentranians, because if they're doing stuff like this to dragons, god knows what they must be doing, or are doing, to Astrid whilst they've got her imprisoned in the camps on Mentra?

It's the fact that the Mentranians have seemingly killed this dragon in a thoroughly detailed manner, unlike anything he's ever seen before, that prompted him to worry about Astrid's treatment.

"We have to move, Hiccup." Blavery insisted, as Hiccup dove into another maze of apprehension, thinking about how they're treating Astrid/what they're doing to her.

Hiccup knocked himself out of those types of thoughts, for his own good. He was at least trying to combat those dark thoughts about how the Mentranians are potentially treating Astrid, combating them in his head with his intent of driving the Mentranians off of this island to put an end to whatever deterrent they were working to acquire.

At that, all of the Hooligans, Hiccup & co in front, continued their forward march. All of them planted their face wing suit covers back over their faces. Hiccup couldn't help but think about Astrid as he led the guys to where the Mentranians were, but again, he was trying to combat the thoughts because he didn't want to be in a weakened position whilst on the same land as the fanatics of Mentra.

"Hold on a minute..." Snotlout said, once again causing everyone to stop.

"What is it now, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked, sounding agitated.

All of the Berkians seemed to sigh in frustration collectively; they just wanted to confront the Mentranians and drive them off this island to put an end to their cruel actions. But there was yet another delay.

Snotlout was glaring up at the steep, hilly formations of the rocky island not too far to his right.

"We came with these suits for a reason, right?"

"To defend ourselves from their venomous arrows. Stop wasting time-" Blavery said, sharing Hiccup's agitation.

"I've got a good idea..." Snotlout interrupted.

* * *

Guddorn, with his fellow Mentranians, with their allies in the Berserkers, in their entirety around the area of the wooden tables with their acquired dragon eggs, were taking a brief break. They were intent on resuming phase one shortly after their break, but in the mean time, they were able to boast about the progress.

Some were leaning against the tables, others were sat on the rock hard surface, and some were simply standing in groups of three or four, chatting amongst each other, whilst Guddorn and some others primarily spoke amongst themselves near the shores.

"Look at all of these eggs. There's gonna be plenty of deterrent dragons to our use once they've grown up after phase two." one of the Mentranians said.

"Definitely. This is quite possibly going to be an unprecedented creation. When we have that deterrent in its full strength, nobody will dare try to destroy the paradise." another Mentranian stated.

A couple of Berserkers, looking more archaic with their primarily steel and spiky gear, were speaking with their Mentranian allies. All of these vikings, who were the ones at work within phase one, were all simply chatting to each other like a huge group of friends, with the boats near them since they were all stood near the shores.

"Alright gents, five more minutes and then we'll get back to the phase." Guddorn echoed.

As chuckles and chatter ran rampant in their groups, in the distance directly ahead, where the fog seemed to be closer than it actually was, a huge collection of figures seemed to be emerging from the fog; they all looked brownish and dark in their appearance and seemingly gear-looking armour.

It wasn't until Guddorn himself looked up that he spotted them. As soon as he saw the huge line of strangers, seemingly in enormous numbers, make their way from the fog, he looked around.

"Wait a minute..." he uttered, walking beyond the tables, directly in front of his Mentranian & Berserker colleagues, as they too caught sight of the dangerous-looking folks ahead

They instantly halted their talk and chuckles, as the majority of them stood up to glare directly in the distance in front of where they were; specifically, near the dead bodies of the dragons. The numbers in which these strangers in the distance were in seemed to be increasing, the closer they emerged, and the more they moved away from the fog.

Larick rushed up to stand besides Guddorn, who was as taken aback as him. What were these people doing here? Guddorn reached into his gear and pulled out a spyglass. He pulled it out and held it directly against his right eye.

Glaring into it, he caught a much clearer picture of the strangers; they had different gear to that of any Mentranian gear or Berserker gear; they were foreigners.

"I don't understand, who are they?" Guddorn said, briefly removing the spyglass from his eye to ask Larick.

"I've no idea sir." Larick said.

The Mentranians behind Guddorn loaded up their crossbows, for a potential striking at whoever the strangers in the distance were. The Berserkers very quickly stepped in line with the Mentranians, to potentially do battle on their behalf as apart of the pact signed between the two by their leaders, Fludgeon and Hawkon.

"Sir, they're foreigners, and they're closing in on us with weaponry. What are we gonna do?" a Mentranian asked, running over to Guddorn from the group he was initially with.

"Why don't you resume your position and wait for me to give the order?" Guddorn said, glaring with fierce eyes at his fellow Mentranian.

At that, the Mentranian defender quickly ran back to his group, as Guddorn returned his eye sight towards the approaching vikings in the distance.

"DOWN WITH MENTRA, UP RETURNS BEERKKK!" the foreigner group chanted.

Guddorn stumbled, as his solemn expression maintained itself at their chant, and that chant confirmed it to him; these vikings approaching in a march formation were hostile foreigners.

The chant started giving anxiety to the Mentranians, because they feared that if they were allowing it to happen, they'd be severely punished by the leadership back on Mentra; they wanted to attack as a result.

"DOWN WITH MENTRAAAAA, UP RETUURNSSS BEEERRKKKK!" the Hooligans, (unknown to Guddorn still), chanted, their combined deep voices making for an intimidating roar in the chant.

"Load yourselves up." Guddorn nodded, gesturing for everyone to load up their venomous crossbows.

Anyone strictly hostile to Mentra is instantly killed. That was no different here. But the Mentranians had a problem, because they never anticipated coming across a foreign viking group like they were now. As the Hooligans chanted, sending more anxiety into the Mentranians, Guddorn stared up into the sky at what appeared to be flying bodies, bodies that were in various colours.

"STOP WHAT YOU'RE ALL DOING!" Hiccup yelled at the hostiles below, as his wing suit allowed him to be glided up into the air as smoothly as a kite, as he glanced directly down at the Mentranians and Berserkers, surrounding the colour table because of the amount of eggs.

"Sir, there's a flying foreigner?!"

"I know there is. FIRE!" Guddorn yelled.

At that command, a couple of Mentranians raised their crossbows up and pulled on their triggers, sending venom arrows directly up towards Hiccup as he glided. The arrows were sharply charging upwards like a missile, but they were way off the mark, completely missing Hiccup.

"I SAID FIRE-" Guddorn was cut off from the emergence of MORE flying foreigners; two which seemed to be fighting with each other, one wide one, one big, strength-filled looking one, and one short looking one, but also another one that seemed to have a basic colouration to it.

Hiccup, alongside Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Eret, Blavery and Fishlegs, had all climbed up to a high point on the rocky mountain of this island, to glide over the Mentranians and to make a good use out of their flight suits. Snotlout's idea that he proposed was for this exact thing, and for the chant to be made by the Berkians on the ground to catch the Mentranians off guard.

The Mentranians were indeed caught off guard with anxiety by that anti-Mentra chant, but they were also caught off guard by the sheer numbers of flying viking foreigners in the sky.

"YOU OUGHT TO STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING, RIGHT NOW!" Hiccup yelled at the Mentranians and Berserkers, as he, Eret & co, looked to make a landing to the point they'd be circling the Mentranians and Berserkers all around.

"SIR, DO WE FIRE OR NOT?!"

Guddorn had no time to respond, because just as he was about to, Hiccup, Eret and Blavery made a firm stomp of their landings, landing smoothly from the air as they adjusted their leather wings on their flight suits to land in between the Mentranian boats and the Mentranians themselves, whilst Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs with Snotlout made a landing directly in between the Berkians that were in the fog and were now directly behind them, and the Mentranians and Berserkers themselves.

All the Mentranians held up their crossbows; one side raised them up towards Blavery, Eret and Hiccup's direction, another side, Guddorn's side, raised their crossbows up towards Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs, and now, the 20+ ground Berkians who were initially seen by the Mentranians in the distance.

There were only two Berserkers here, and the Mentranians weren't anticipating any sort of encounter of this manner.

Hiccup kept his face cover on.

"Here's what you're going to do, you're going to back off and leave, and then we're going to take all those eggs and keep them out of harms way..." Hiccup, in a threatening tone, stated.

Guddorn shoved his way through his colleagues to talk to Hiccup, who he had no idea that was who it was.

"Are you looking for a quick life, boy? we'll make it quick right now?" Guddorn asked, as numerous Mentranians raised their crossbows up.

"I'm looking for my wife, and I'm also looking to put a stop to your cruel, grotesque actions...you may be in charge of my father's old generational island, but out here, we're the Hooligans, we're the Berkians, and we're here to take back our island..."

"Oooh, so it's true gentlemen, the Hooligans have returned...and for what cost? he's clearly asking for a quick life, because when we kill you boy, you won't ever see your loved ones again. The foreigner's audacity though, gentlemen, is quite brave, wouldn't you say?"

"You can mock me all you want. You guys need to understand that Berk isn't your island...it's mine, and I'm gonna prove that point by ending your little program here, right now."

"And suppose if you were to actually succeed, do you Hooligans honestly expect us to take that sitting down? I doubt our father, Hawkon, would. I might even admit to you that you shouldn't have confessed that you guys are the Hooligans, because when I return home, I'm gonna brief my father on your emergence, Mentra will come down on you like a boulder."

"STICK TO THE POINT! YOUR EMPTY THREATS DON'T SCARE ME! NEW BERK IS HIGH UP, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO A DARN THING! HAND OVER THE EGGS OR WE'LL TAKE THEM BY FORCE!" Hiccup yelled.

"He's right buddy, if you don't surrender and back away now, we'll shove through you, by any means necessary, to get those eggs." Eret said.

"I'm with these guys as well, I'm no longer apart of your heartless, cruel regime system..." Blavery revealed, retracting his face cover, much to the amusement of Guddorn and the Mentranians.

"Ohhh, so that's where you ran off to. The incompetent has joined the group of incompetence, men, wouldn't you believe it?!" Guddorn chuckled, alongside his colleagues.

"Laugh all you want, Mentra is a regime situated upon an island that doesn't deserve to be the foundation of such cruelness, a system where you starve your own vikings, and for what? all to worship and maintain the power of a young, heartless dictator viking?! this, right here, is HICCUP HADDOCK, HE WAS AND IS THE CHIEFTAN OF BERK, AND NOW, NEW BERK. MENTRA ISN'T MENTRA, THAT ISLAND HAS ALWAYS BEEN BERK, AND THAT HAS APPLIED FOR THE PAST DECADE!"

"Hiccup...Haddock?" Guddorn said, recognising that name, raising an eyebrow, out of pure surprise that he'd come here and even dare to disrupt and interfere with Mentra's sovereign objective, "the father and our overseers party talks about you all the time. The so-called former chief of our paradise? pathetic. Mentra has always been on that land, there was never a 'Berk'. Luckily, we eradicated that poisonous aspect from its history upon our arrival."

"I'm warning you, hand over the eggs...you know who I am, I can only say the opposite about you..."

"Well since you're so eager to do battle and open up a whole new scale of hostilities, whereby you want to take back the land that was never yours, why don't we get started? it's in our interest to keep our defence program alive, after all. FIREEE!" Guddorn yelled.

At that, the Mentranians fired their crossbows of arrow venom at all sides, and as soon as that commenced, the Hooligans rushed in for a full on physical battle. Luckily, Hiccup and co had their wing suits on to block the venom arrows.

Very quickly, the Hooligans overpowered the Mentranians as they flung swords, crossbows were shot, and generally a full-on battle was commencing around the wooden tables. The Mentranians were very quickly starting to retreat into the waters, not their boats, to swim away; they just didn't have the equipment necessary with them because they never expected to encounter the Hooligans at all, or a battle of this sort.

Eret, in the midst of the battle, grabbed the head of a Berserker and sent his forehead pummelling directly into the head of the Berserker, knocking him out and temporarily eliminating one of the few Berserkers on the island.

Hiccup was fully covered and arrow-proof in his flight suit as he brawled. Using his agility, he rapidly went back and forth with a couple of Mentranians at once, kicking them on the floor in the head directly with his metal leg after taking them down, by their shoulder pits.

"KILL THE HOOLIGANS, GENTLEMEN, KILLLL!" one Mentranian yelled, keeping his venom arrow in his crossbow until this very moment, hiding near the background as he, like a predator, awaited an opportunity to strike a Hooligan with venom.

He fired his crossbow into one of the Hooligans with his venomous arrow, prompting that Hooligan to instantly collapse in the midst of the battle. About three of them instantly charged towards that Mentranian, flinging their swords up into the air at him, before striking the Mentranian with a deadly fling, blade first.

The remaining Hooligans who were on the ground were quick to charge forwards with their swords, completely causing the Mentranians to retreat into the shores, abandoning their boats to swim back to Mentra, as did Guddorn. Quite instantly, the numbers and the readiness of the Hooligans and Hiccup were too much for the Mentranians, who weren't ready at all for that type of battle, because they only expected to work on the defence program, which was, now, unfortunately, ruined and lost because of the Hooligans.

"IS EVERYONE OKAY?!" Hiccup yelled, as he attended to everyone.

"God, my head hurts...those Berserkers really do pack a punch, let me tell you..." Eret said, both his palms on his head.

"The important thing is, we've managed to drive them off, now we can collect these eggs and that'll be their defence program lost. Good job, guys!" Blavery said.

"So uh...was that it? it only took us charging towards them and getting to them in our full numbers for them to retreat and swim away like that?" Snotlout said.

Everyone suddenly walked towards the Hooligan who was inflicted with the venom arrow, totally blacked out, including Hiccup and co.

"It's like he said, after this, we're sure to get a response of some sort, but considering your new island is as high as a mountain, they won't do much?"

"Are you okay?!" Hiccup said, ducking down to the Hooligan who was knocked out; very gently, Hiccup pulled out the venom arrow from his arm, and as a result, a bit of blood started coming out.

"No..." Hiccup said, tired and without breath, "that won't be the last time we see them...I just hope they don't do anything to Astrid after this..."

"Look, Hiccup, we've just driven them off of this island, you never said the name of your wife, you only said just that, 'my wife', so they won't know that it's Astrid. But trust me, this is the first step to bringing down that regime."

As the Hooligans gathered the eggs, with Hiccup once again having uncertainty after the physical encounter with the Mentranians, Guddorn, keeping himself a float in the seas as he swam back towards Mentra, with the other dozen fellow Mentranians, had a message to reveal.

"THEY THINK THEY'VE WON...THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'VE STARTED ONCE OUR FATHER HEARS ABOUT THIS...IT'LL BE THE END OF THEIR TRIBE, THEIR HISTORY, AND THEIR CHILDREN!" Guddorn raged; he couldn't embrace his anger fully until he was back on land.

That was it. Mentra's defence program was over and lost, in thanks to an interference from the Hooligans. One thing, however, that is quite clear, is that this is going to lead to something far beyond anything Hiccup's ever had from Drago or Grimmel before. He may have easily won against the Mentranians just now, but that was in their unprepared state; when they're ready for battle and prepared, in their true numbers, it'll be a whole different story.


	17. Big four

**CHAPTER 17: Big four**

Word had quickly been delivered to the Mentranian overseers party of the defence program being destroyed and lost, and subsequently, the word was delivered to Hawkon.

In light of Guddorn eventually swimming his way, alongside the other Mentranians working on the program, back to Mentra, to let the overseers party know of who caused the program to be lost, and generally what happened, Hawkon had called for a private summit between himself and some other vital figures in the Mentranian regime.

These figures, you could call them, including Hawkon himself, the 'big four'. And for a good reason, because these four figures held tremendous power in the regime, Hawkon obviously being the most powerful out of them.

Apart of the 'big four' of Mentra was Guddorn himself, since he was the leader of Mentra's defence program before the Hooligans came along and completely ruined it and snatched it from the hands of Mentra. And it was because of that reason that he was taking part in this private summit called by Mentra's ruthless young leader. Hawkon wasn't going to blame Guddorn for what happened.

The place that was hosting the summit between Hawkon, Guddorn, and the other two figures of the 'big four', wasn't the big hall in the middle of the outer village of Mentra, like Hawkon had used when he made his first speech after becoming leader, but instead, an underground, secretive, bunker-esque vicinity that'd only be used for situations that arose within the area of militaristic action.

The entrance was hidden from the regulars of Mentra, because the way you entered was within the area directly behind the giant cliff of Mentra, where a trapdoor, covered in leaves and sticks to conceal it, was situated within the muddy grass. Every day on the island at least two or five Mentranian defenders patrolled the vicinity of the trapdoor, but they never looked at it or acted like they were guarding something. They didn't want it to be seen by the regulars.

That was because this secretive, underground, militaristic place would, at the times it gets used, have meetings where vital and internal information is exchanged, primarily on the whereabouts of Mentra's weaponry on the island and so on, and on potential plans to attack a tribe or generally to discuss hypothetical wars. Until today, the latter was very rarely spoken about.

By situating these discussions underground, nobody could overhear what was being discussed, so that was the general idea. And Hawkon was secretly taken down here so none of the regulars would run up and cheer him, like they'd always do (by force), to embrace their great 'father' as he's known as in his cult of personality.

A medium sized table, with three chairs on either side of one end, with one single chair alone on the other, was situated upon a wooden ground. The underground meeting place was lit up by various candles to the point the light was as bright as sunlight.

Hawkon the Second was stood directly in front of the table, awaiting his three other figures. They were slowly making their way inside. Guddorn was the first one to emerge, and as soon as he entered, he stopped and saluted respectfully towards his leader, Hawkon, who was surrounded by his father's old advisers and a couple of other Mentranian defenders, as still as statues, maintaining as much dignity as possible in their positions in the presence of Hawkon.

"Sir Hawkon..." Guddorn said.

Hawkon nodded back. He gestured for Guddorn to take a seat.

The next figure was much wider and vicious looking, but somebody who signed a pact with the Mentranians to keep the regime alive and from collapsing, deliberately to prevent the Berkians/Hooligans returning to the island and taking it back, in light of their resurgence of hostility towards said tribe. It was Fludgeon the Feared, the Chieftan of the Berserker tribe.

"Great leader..." Fludgeon slowly uttered, shaking Hawkon's hand, as he too resumed a seat in the secretive underground, militaristic area.

Last but not least, arguably the second most powerful viking just below Hawkon within the Mentranian regime, it was Gustav Larson. He slowly saluted Hawkon as the young leader gave off a more solemn expression towards Gustav, in comparison to the ones he gave to Fludgeon and Guddorn.

"Father, sir..." Gustav saluted.

"Take a seat, if you will." Hawkon replied, to which Gustav obeyed.

Hawkon finally walked around the table, taking his seat on the chair at the other end of the table, whilst Fludgeon, Guddorn and Gustav were all sat closer together on the opposite end, to make Hawkon look more dominant in terms of position, another deliberate act by the Mentranians.

Five defenders in total surrounded the area, all standing in a guard stance all around, with their crossbows at the ready, intent on defending the four powerful vikings of Mentra should anything happen whilst inside.

"I cannot express just how much shaking anger is inside me right now. I saw this day coming. I always had it in my gut feeling, that the Hooligans would one day try to come back here and reclaim our island, the island that was never theirs. But for them to strike us in such an unprovoked way, to the point our whole defence program has been lost? ruined? snatched from our grasp, for want of a better phrase? they're playing the Grimmel and Drago playbook at this point, and I will soon be revealing Mentra's intent to declare war on the Hooligans so we can defend our sovereignty." Hawkon declared.

"Very well put, sir. I can assure you that we would've disposed of them had we anticipated a battle. We were only expecting to work on phase one. They just appeared, and outnumbered our men and defenders. It's all on me, sir, I'm sorry that I've let us all down..." Guddorn conceded.

"You haven't let us down. Yet. Whilst you were indeed in charge of running our defence program development, I can fully relate to the notion that you didn't anticipate such a strike. I anticipated them personally, in the future, but never did I expect them to emerge at the exact time we commenced the development of that dragon deterrent."

Guddorn internally felt relieved. Only Hawkon could make even the most deadly defenders/powerful figure of Mentra fear for their lives in the manner Guddorn just did for his, but thankfully, Hawkon's understanding nature just now felt like a huge weight lifted off of Guddorn's shoulders.

"Can we just take a moment, however, to acknowledge what we've just lost? we've lost any hope of having a deterrent to defend our island...we've lost any hope of potentially restarting the program, since, as my advisers reminded me, you all killed a decent amount of the dragons on there."

"Hiccup Haddock was the lead in it all, sir. And can I just take this moment to reveal that Blavery, the one who defected, was apart of the Hooligan attack? he was in their gear, like he was...one of them." Guddorn added.

"I'm aware of his defection. This is what the Hooligans do. They not only work and plot to destroy us on the outside, but they've also plotted to destroy us from the inside. Blavery's defection being a prime example of that, especially since, as you've said, he was there on their side when they snatched our deterrent program from our grasp. And speaking of which, the overseers party had requested my permission to send about ten of our brethren to the camps in light of their failure to stop Blavery from escaping. I accepted their request. That's the type of action we'll need to take if we want to prevent the Hooligans from winning over us in the future." Hawkon said.

So it's true; the Mentranians who failed to capture Blavery when he was initially defecting over the border of Mentra were sent to the isolation camps, on Hawkon's approval. Not a single person had anything to say about that in the room. Guddorn simply nodded with dignity, like it was no big deal that his own brethren were most likely executed in the camps.

"What we need to do now, though, is work out how we're going to retaliate. We can't let the Hooligans come here, to try and bring down our sovereignty, by destroying our defence program." Hawkon said.

"Hawkon sir, I give you my upmost assurance that my men will do whatever they can to keep our ongoing pact in strong cooperation. We will therefore support your leadership and your people in whatever you may come up with, as we too seek to deny the Hooligans any chances of coming back here to supposedly 'take back' their island, which was never theirs, as has been reiterated already." Fludgeon the Feared said.

"I think I'm right in still saying the Berserkers no longer have a peace treaty with the Hooligans, and if so, I'll wholeheartedly welcome your contribution to our defence, aye?" Hawkon asked.

"That's not even a question, sir Hawkon. My tribe executed the scum of Dagur in light of making us appease the one legged bane. Under no circumstances will my men turn back from our goal of killing him and his tribe." Fludgeon assured Hawkon.

Hawkon nodded.

"Did you say that it was Hiccup who led the attack on our brethren, Guddorn?" Gustav said, the second in command speaking up in the summit for the first time.

"Blavery spoke of that name to me and pointed to the person in question. It was indeed him, on that basis."

"That's quite the coincidence for us, because I was recently called to the camps to monitor their running, and I was informed that we had captured Hiccup's wife, her name's Astrid Hofferson, and as we speak, she's still detained in one of the camps. Knowing my history with the Hooligans, you can understand where I'm going to go with this?" Larson said, leaning forwards.

Fludgeon, Guddorn, but Hawkon especially, glared with straight looks towards the second in command of Mentra.

"The Hooligans, probably knowing full well at this point that our people have got Hiccup's wife captured, launched that attack with the likely fear that something's going to happen to Astrid. To emotionally, and internally, initiate the hostilities that'll be needed to defeat the Hooligans, we ought to make a special occasion for the whole island, to witness the public execution of Hiccup's wife?"

"Are you for certain, Larson, that that's his wife in the camps?" Hawkon asked.

"I'm certain of it. I saw her with my own two eyes, and it was definitely her. When we execute her and the Hooligans know about it, they'll be stripped of their motivation and their sanity to try and attack us further." Larson said.

Hawkon liked that idea. To execute the wife of the Chieftan of the Hooligans, the tribe that's seeking to destroy Mentra and its sovereignty, in Hawkon's head, was the perfect way to go about starting the retaliation.

"We'll need to arrange that, which the overseers party will handle. To make the event a significant turning point in our history, all of us ought to be there in person, like our people will be, for when the wife of Hiccup Haddock is executed." Hawkon said.

The 'big four' figures leading the way to commencing the upcoming conflict between themselves and the Hooligans had concluded on their plans to begin their retaliation against the Hooligans. Hawkon now wanted to talk about the geographical situation regarding the Hooligan's home island, and where it resides.

"Turning to another pressing matter, and a matter that we need to figure out if we're wanting our brethren to properly give the Hooligans what they've had coming, we need to work out where their home island is." Hawkon declared, leaning backwards in his chair slightly.

"Sir Hawkon, again, my history with those guys means I know a ton about them internally speaking, and I know the structure of their home island." Gustav said.

"Please sir, give it to me so we can initiate our plan right away." Guddorn said, talking to Larson with a respectable tone.

"But it might also be a problem. Their island is one gigantic mountain in the middle of the ocean...it's like a giant rock. It's so tall that our men and brethren would struggle to find a way up into it." Gustav added.

"But having said that, sir, when the Hooligans attacked us before we had to abandon the progress we made on our defence program, Hiccup and his other Hooligan friends were wearing gear that enabled them to glide in the air. They had like...leather in between their arms and their ribs, attached, and they were gliding in the air like birds." Guddorn said.

"They're called wing suits." Larson said.

"Wing suits? the name evidently catches on. It made them look like humanoid dragons." Guddorn said.

"On the issue of their island supposedly being a mountain on all sides, sir Hawkon," Fludgeon said, having an input into the solution of getting around New Berk being so tall, "what if our respective people construct such wing suits and then we fling those wearing it into the air, when we one day sail towards their island, from catapults? that way, when they get shot from the catapults, the wing suits will enable them to very quickly glide upwards into the air and onto their island."

"Larson, how viable is that?" Hawkon asked, referring to Fludgeon's solution.

He was asking Gustav this on the basis of the second-in-command's history with the Hooligans.

"I've personally memorised a few tricks from the time the Hooligans constructed their wing suits during the time their flying vermin were all with them. We can certainly work towards this. Time wise, we're looking at about a couple of months or so if we're going to construct them for all of our defenders." Gustav said.

"Maybe half of the suits we'll need to construct will be a better figure to aim for then. So we'll go ahead with that, and again, I shall inform the overseers party of this. The work ethic of our Mentranian people means they too can help out in the creation of these suits, provided they're under strict supervision." Hawkon nodded.

"Rest assured sir, we will hit the Hooligans where it hurts the most." Guddorn insisted.

"That's the intention. We have plans in place now, we aren't going to let them attempt to steal our island that they claim is theirs. Our brethren will defend the Mentranian vikings and ensure our sovereignty is maintained. The Hooligans wanted a war, they're about to get one. They can destroy our defence program unprovoked, but after this, they'll be squashed down like little bugs." Hawkon said.

Fludgeon the Feared, Gustav Larson, Guddorn the Glorious, and most importantly, Hawkon the Second had all the plans in place for Mentra to strike back. As the 'big four' figures of Mentra, they're bound to pose a bigger threat to Hiccup than he expects.

That threat commences with the execution of Astrid tomorrow, in the public view of the Mentranians.


	18. The execution

**CHAPTER 18: The execution**

A new day had dawned on Mentra. The villages were unusually empty. That was because the regulars were crowded in planned spots all over the island; the schooling sessions of the young Mentranian vikings were delayed specifically for the event unfolding in the regime today. The children were all going to watch this event unfold with their parents.

About 50 or so regular Mentranians were gathered in a formation just outside one of the isolation camps of Mentra, near the side of the cliff, one of the rare occasions they've been allowed to see the camps. Shortly after they had gathered around, a couple of Mentranians entered one of the camp buildings.

A wooden carriage, with four Mentranian defenders standing all around it, was positioned a couple of minutes away from the camp building where the regular Mentranians were gathered. The hatch to the carriage was wide open.

Hooked up to the carriage were two wingless Gronckles, where the dragons were going to be forced into delivering the carriage to the planned destination. They were hooked onto it by a large steel chain, and the defenders kept their venomous crossbows aimed at the reptiles permanently, so the dragons comply with the acknowledgement that should they do anything else, they'll be killed.

The Mentranian vikings weren't given a choice. They, alongside their children, were going to be forced by the regime to watch this event. And should they refuse to do so, harsh punishments will be coming their way.

The fishermen of Mentra were also forced to stop their jobs just to watch the event.

Two Mentranians walked out from the camp building, causing all the regulars to drive their attention towards the two men.

Astrid, being held by her armpits on either side by the two men, was being dragged to the point her knees were sliding across the ground. The two Mentranian defenders were dragging her to the carriage.

She was too weak to walk, but the Mentranians seemed to have no issue in dragging her. The venom, the treatment, everything she's experienced in that camp, has taken its toll on her. Her head felt heavy, the bright sun made her eyes ache more than they usually would've, and she couldn't even feel her kneecaps despite them literally sliding across the ground as the Mentranians dragged her forcefully.

The scent of wood was all she could smell, due to how long she's been in that camp for.

As the crowd of regular Mentranians grew louder and louder, a loud, enthusiastic speech could be heard from the distance, as Astrid continued to get dragged.

"**OUR FIGHT BACK COMMENCES TODAY, WHEREBY WE INTEND ON PROTECTING OUR VIKINGS, OUR PEOPLE, AND OUR SOVEREIGNTY!**" Hawkon echoed in the distance, in some other area of the island, to which his cry was responded to by a huge roar of cheering by the regular Mentranians nearby who could hear it, and the rest around the area the leader was situated at.

Astrid reached the carriage after being dragged. She was tied up in her hands. The two Mentranians simply shoved her weak body harshly into the carriage, from her arm pits, and as she sat up, unable to do anything else, one of the Mentranians ducked into the carriage from the outside and sent the back of his crossbow into her skull, emitting a hard collision of a thump between her face and the crossbow.

She fell back, into more pain and misery, as the two defenders slammed the carriage door shut. Shortly afterwards, one of them patted the carriage, signalling for it to get going. A couple of regular Mentranians were on the carriage directly behind the wingless Gronckles, throwing a ton of objects down to the vulnerable reptiles. This had prompted them to start walking, and thus, making the carriage move.

Astrid was being taken to the schooling area where the regime educates its youth Mentranians. Specifically, the old dragon training academy arena from back in the day, the area with the dome-metal structure above an engulfed ground. That was the execution site for today.

As the carriage got going, with Astrid looking out the holes of it, only to see more regular Mentranians standing together in a choreographed manner, the wooden tall borders of Mentra subsequently coming into her vision, Hawkon's echoing voice continued.

"**OUR DEFENDERS WERE WELL ON THEIR WAY TO CREATING OUR SHIELD OF DEFENCE, A DETERRENT TO PROTECT OUR PEOPLE, AND OUR ISLAND.."**

Astrid looked out the hole again as the carriage now reached the villages of Mentra; brownish, darkish, it all felt depressing and like a whole different world. The borders enforced that especially for her. The carriage passed more regular Mentranians, who were all chanting various anti-Hooligan slogans towards the carriage. It was very disturbing; it sounded like these vikings had genuinely been brainwashed by the regime at this point.

The two Gronckles moaned in pain, but that didn't stop the two Mentranians forcing them to move it continue on with their task. The carriage made a slight left turn, as the two dragons started walking upwards through the brownish village, as more regular Mentranians, in 50-odd numbers still, chanted violent and brutal slogans towards the carriage.

Amongst those regulars were five or ten defenders, as all of them fired their crossbows up into the skies, celebrating the upcoming ceremony involving Astrid herself. They, amongst the regulars, looked like pure statues as they fired their arrows up in the skies, like patriotic defenders.

"**TO NO SURPRISE, THE HOOLIGANS EMERGED AND ATTACKED OUR BRETHREN UNPROVOKED, STEALING OUR PROGRESS ON THAT DETERRENT, WITH THEIR OBVIOUS INTENT OF BRINGING US DOWN!**" Hawkon yelled, through what sounded like a mega loud microphone of some sorts, due to how loud it was echoing across the island from where Astrid was in the carriage.

Another roaring cheer came in light of that speech. The Mentranians seemed to be eating it up with a ton of passion, because the cheers themselves were as loud as a hurricane's wind, they were echoing that much.

As Astrid once again continued to look out, something disturbing was being put on by the regular Mentranians as the carriage passed them in this part of the village. Literally besides the moving carriage were a bunch of regulars, holding up their crossbows, and firing them into wooden paintings of what appeared to be...the Hairy Hooligan emblem. The emblem was painted onto circle wooden objects, being held up by defenders. (They managed to paint the emblem correctly from Gustav providing it).

That was a deliberate stunt set up and timed by the regulars for when the carriage came past them, so they could show to Astrid that this regime is and will continue to be a firmly anti-Hooligan regime, especially in light of their attack on their defenders.

"DEATH TO THE HOOLIGANS!" one female Mentranian yelled, having to be held back by a couple of defenders, as the carriage moved past and further into the dominantly brown village.

At this point, Astrid could only think about Zephyr and Nuffink, and Hiccup; god knows how they must be feeling, knowing she herself hasn't returned home since sailing out to find what she used to think was simply 'Old Berk'.

"**THEY WANT US TO SIT DOWN AND TAKE IT! BUT TAKE IT WE SHALL NOT!**" Hawkon exclaimed.

Another roaring cheer came from the regular Mentranians stationed forcefully all across the path that the carriage was going in, in light of Hawkon's message once again.

Astrid recognised this part of the island, since it used to be where the steps up to the Great Hall were. Just seeing the island in this state...totally transformed, ruled by a whole different group of people, and it just generally becoming something totally different, it hit her hard in her heart. The Stoick statues that used to be here in this part of the village her carriage was passing, were gone.

She felt trapped and isolated, which was what Mentra was. The borders enforced Astrid's other-world feelings of Mentra; it just wasn't 'Old Berk' any more, and in light of everything she's seeing whilst being taken to the execution site, it no longer felt like the home of seven generations to the Hooligans.

The carriage once again made a slow turn, this time ending up directly near the large wooden, barbed wire borders, in a sort of alley-way area of the village. As she looked out again, a bunch of youth, child Mentranian vikings came running up to the carriage to throw up a bunch of stones to it.

They were like a group of friends. The young Mentranians kept pelting cold, grey stones at the carriage, as they too supported their regime's goal of eradicating the Hooligans. But seeing the children act...brainwashed? Astrid felt even more saddened and isolated.

Either the regular Mentranians were acting amazingly, by attacking Astrid's carriage in order to avoid execution or harsh punishments, or they were genuinely taking in everything that was being said, and were brainwashed.

Astrid just couldn't cope with the feeling any longer that she was never going to see Hiccup and the two kids ever again.

The children kept running up to the carriage from behind, pelting more and more stones at it, and as the carriage moved away from them, a couple of defenders could be seen walking up to them and clapping...almost as if they were cheering the young Mentranian vikings on for displaying that 'patriotic' support of the regime by attacking the carriage with Astrid in it.

The children acting that way was heartbreaking, simply put.

"**The Hooligans want us to surrender our land, they seek to weaken our drive. We mustn't let them win. They think that by destroying our defence prospects, and by reiterating that our great paradise was supposedly once theirs, we'll just bow down. They are wrong, and we must show them that.**" Hawkon stated, through his loud, echoing microphone at the execution site, in a calmer, slower pace, as Astrid's carriage was nearing the old dragon training academy.

"**With the help of our allies in the Berserkers, we shall seek the blood and the eradication of not just the Hooligans themselves, but ALSO THEIR CHILDREN!**" Hawkon cried, generating the loudest thunder of a cheer throughout his entire speech at the site.

All of the Mentranians had cheered and cried out of passion for their leader's drive.

Astrid's carriage was nearing the vicinity. She looked out once again, as more defenders lined up in a choreographed line near the various huts; their numbers were doubling as she neared the site, indicating that the carriage was about to stop.

More Hooligan emblems on wooden circle objects were held up, and the defenders were waiting for the carriage to start passing them directly before firing their crossbows into the logo; as Astrid looked out to them all, in the blazing sun near the borders, the defenders fired collectively, their arrows into the wood.

"**Mentra is strong, and our strength will be the downfall of our enemy...**" Hawkon declared.

"**Coming together within unity, I can reveal that our brethren are, at this present time, mapping out the details for our attack, whereby we will destroy the Hooligans and eradicate them from existence!**"

The two Gronckles at the front seemed to be halting, as there were now twenty defenders or more around the whole carriage, signalling that they were here. Behind the defenders also were about 100+ this time, regular Mentranians, cheering on the carriage's arrival, since it signified that the imprisoned wife of the enemy was about to be executed. But again, it was hard to tell if the regulars were acting to stay alive, or if they were genuinely passionate in their belief of the regime.

Suddenly, the carriage door opened, and a couple of hands reached in, violently pulling Astrid out of it and onto the solid ground, initially rolling on the ground she was dragged out that violently and fast.

As she laid on her back, a bunch of Mentranian defenders circled her, as her ears could only hear the thick chants of the regulars. One defender raised his boot up and sent it crashing down into the skull of Astrid, totally blackening her out.

* * *

Regaining her consciousness, Astrid once again felt herself gripped by her armpits, as two Mentranian defenders dragged her weak body through a more quieter portion of the vicinity. Her vision was fading and brightening every second. She couldn't keep her eyes open, and when they closed again, she woke up, this time, in a whole different area. Clearly, she blacked out once again, making it feel like a second had passed for her, when in reality, about five or so minutes had.

Astrid was right in the entrance of the academy, being dragged into the descended, engulfed area right below the dome-like metal bars surrounding it; on the outsides were the regular Mentranian vikings, chanting for their leader, and there were a ton of children in the crowds above as well.

Astrid's vision caused her to blacken out once again, but she suddenly saw a young Hiccup, running away from a firing Hookfang, with the Berkians watching the situation from the outside...the fire, everything, Hiccup's yelling, was right there, as she was dragged into the once-dragon training academy. Her flashback of this place's historical occurrence with Hiccup and Hookfang ended when Fludgeon was staring at her, right in her face, with a raised eyebrow.

Hawkon, Gustav and Guddorn were stood with each other, as the Mentranian leader concluded his speech. The cheering, crying Mentranians, with their children, all watched on from the outsides, as the 200+ of them continued to yell in 'support' of their leader.

"**They destroyed something precious and vital to us, now we shall do the same to them!**" Hawkon declared, as the two Mentranian defenders reached the wooden pole, dragging Astrid onto it and wrapping her hands up with thick rope around it.

Hawkon gestured for Gustav to come forwards, offering out a crossbow to the second-in-command. Gustav grabbed it, and raised it out towards the crowd of regulars above to show them.

"**QUIETEN DOWN!**" Hawkon yelled, with every single Mentranian stopping their chants in light of their dear leader uttering that demand.

"This is only the start..." Gustav declared, looking at Astrid, subsequently walking towards her with the crossbow, with nothing but a solemn look; it was so quiet that you could only hear his footsteps.

Astrid felt herself heat up, she could only hear her heartbeat, and she started shaking visibly. Her heart continued to race thumping thick bump sounds in her ears, as Gustav became within a short distance of her.

Gustav raised the crossbow up at Astrid's face, as the regular Mentranians with their children watched on in pure silence, as did Guddorn, Fludgeon and Hawkon. The second-in-command cocked it, and the arrow flew out into its target with exact precision.


	19. Night's edge

**CHAPTER 19: Night's edge**

Hiccup and co were on New Berk, following yesterday where they had driven the Mentranians off of dragon island, to ruin their defence program, subsequently taking the dragon eggs back to New Berk for their own safety. Now, though, Hiccup wanted to get to the core of Mentra. Astrid was still imprisoned there, he wanted to save her today, no questions asked.

Hiccup, Blavery, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Eret, Gobber, Valka and the two kids, were all situated within the big hall once again, the great old colourful hall where Hiccup had first revealed to the Berkians of the existence of a regime on Old Berk.

"Now that we've completely snatched their program off their hands, the threat they would've became has been neutralised." Blavery nodded, as everyone was sat on a long table in the hall, with Blavery sat next to Hiccup in the middle, with Zephyr and Nuffink standing on either side of their dad.

"But they've still got Astrid, Blavery." Hiccup said, sounding anxious.

"They won't uh...'K word' her, Hiccup." Blavery said, not wanting to use the 'kill' word in front of Hiccup's two children, "they'll probably know at this point that she's your wife, with Gustav Larson informing them of that. Chances are, Guddorn and his lot have already told Hawkon's upper team your name, and Gustav knows Astrid's your wife, I'm assuming. So they'll be using her as a bargaining chip, if anything." Blavery guessed.

If only he knew.

"So...how do we approach this from a perspective of destroying them entirely, to the point of getting to my wife?" Hiccup asked.

"How about I rip out their ribs and show it to them?" Eret asked.

"Crikey Eret, you reckon you could do that?" Gobber asked, surprised by the tone Eret was going for.

"I've seen them, Gobber. They're little dwarfs compared to the likes of Drago and Grimmel. I'd be able to hand them a knuckle sandwich fairly quickly." Eret nodded.

"Hold on a moment, guys, this is important stuff. I need to hear Blavery." Hiccup gestured, towards Eret and everyone else.

Valka got up off her chair to stand directly behind Hiccup as he was sat down. She wanted to keep him company in light of this debacle. Hiccup had told her of what he and the rest did yesterday, when they drove the Mentranians off of dragon island to ruin their defence program. She didn't like Hiccup doing this because of how risky it was, but he was able to survive for 20 years without her, so that was the only thing keeping her at bay about it, albeit very very slightly.

"If we really want to do this, we have to cause instability inside it. The only way I can think of us doing that is killing the four guys who're the most influential and powerful. If they get killed, with Hawkon being the last target, the defenders will start defying Hawkon in his weakness of leadership, for letting his closest allies be killed, where they'll consider him unfit and incapable, and then at that moment, we strike at them. Hawkon has to appease his hard line defenders, you might not have known that. If they get angry and start defying him, his power becomes at risk, so that'll be our best bet."

"So who're the other three, apart from Hawkon?" Hiccup asked.

"Fludgeon the Feared, the leader of the Berserker tribe, Guddorn the Glorious as his full title is, the now-former leader of their defence program, since Hawkon will most likely keep him on board because of the work he did in that program, and the second most powerful in that regime below Hawkon, Gustav Larson."

Despite Gustav totally overturning and becoming the second in command of a fanatical regime, Hiccup was having hesitations about...actually killing him.

"Gustav? I.." Hiccup was shrugging his shoulders.

"What?" Blavery said.

"Rather than killing him...why don't we just capture him, and for the other three, kill them?"

"Hiccup, he's the second most powerful in a regime that starves its own vikings, runs isolation camps, which're pretty much death camps, and he's endorsed every action Hawkon's taken, like he endorsed the previous Mentranian leader. He's behind your wife being captured, why wouldn't we kill him?"

"It's...hard, he used to be with us. It was because of 10 years ago, with him being unhappy with me sending the dragons away when, in his mindset, they didn't need to leave at all, that he's became this different person...I know he's responsible for Astrid being there, but..."

"I can understand where Hiccup's coming from, Blave..." Snotlout said, leaning his head over the table, "Gustav and I were basically like twins at one point. He had his own Monstrous Nightmare like I did, it was called Fanghook, like mine was called Hookfang. Was a little jerk at times but I still liked him. I'd feel hesitant as well."

"Well...I guess we can work something out about him. So as things stand, if we want to bring Mentra down, we have to dispose of the three influential figures, and capture one of them in Gustav. That'll be our plan. And also, I think I've got a lead for you on where they may be holding Astrid as we speak."

Hiccup raised his head up, as did Valka and Gobber, literally everyone, at Blavery revealing that he may have a lead for Hiccup to follow to save Astrid.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked.

"You ever heard of an island called outpost?"

"Yeah?"

"There's a ton of buildings on the shores of it, wasn't it called like...edge or whatever?" Blavery asked.

"Dragon's Edge, we used to use that as a home for our dragons. Why?"

"In the past, the Mentranians, when I was serving them, would often take prisoners of the camps to the edge. They've been using that edge as a secondary imprisonment base. The reason they like to use it is because of the week-long journey it takes by a ship to get there, from Mentra. In that week trip on the ship, they often leave the prisoners with little to no food, and when they're on the edge, the prisoners are allocated to even more newly built camps on that edge. They have a few on Mentra, but there's a secret collection of them on the edge. Astrid may be there, so I think our best bet for now is to go there, explore it, and see if Astrid's there."

"But Astrid's been captured by them for what, two days now? and it takes a week to get there, as you said. I doubt it'd be likely." Hiccup said.

"Yeah, but this is Mentra, the secretive regime, what if they have their own dragons that they use to fly back and forth between the edge and Mentra itself? it's worth a shot, and one I'm willing to go with if it means saving your wife. They do keep some secrets from their own defenders, after all." Blavery said.

"I'd be down to take a trip there, Hiccup." Eret said.

"Well, I doubt she'll be there because it's only been two days, but...another thing as well though, is that spending a whole week travelling to the edge, personally, is far too much time to waste. What if they...you know what, to Astrid, during that span of a week?"

"They're most likely using her as a bargaining chip, because of us destroying their defence program. It'll be fine, Hiccup. That's coming from somebody who's been internally within the regime. Take my word." Blavery said.

"God, I wish Toothless was here..." Hiccup conceded.

"So do I, son." Valka said, patting Hiccup on his shoulder.

As Hiccup took the time to think, whilst wishing Toothless and the dragons were here to help, Eret was keen to get some more detail.

"Blavery, how many of them will be on the edge?"

"Less Mentranians, more Berserkers, because the leadership's allocated the guys they're in a pact with to running the camps. There'll be some Mentranians there, but a lot more Berserkers."

"I've headbutted one before, I'll deliver more to that lot then if need be."

"We'll do it..." Hiccup whispered.

"Son, are you sure?" Valka asked, as Zephyr and Nuffink looked at their father with worry.

"It's okay, kids, we'll be bringing mum back very soon." he said to them both, "and mum, if it gives us even a remote chance of saving Astrid, it'll be worth it..."

At that, the mission was on; go to outpost island, go to Dragon's Edge that has since been taken over by the Berserkers and Mentranians, and save Astrid.

If only they knew, though, what happened to Astrid a short while ago on Mentra, when the whole regime organised an island-wide public execution event with stunts of anti-Hooligan messages. If only Hiccup and Valka and the kids in particular knew. When they find out, who knows what'll become of their ability to continue.

* * *

It has been eight days later, and it was pitch black in the skies. Despite Mentra declaring war, the regime had been fairly quiet over the past week. But it's not a quiet situation for the Hooligans at this moment, who've finally made it to Outpost Island from another angle to avoid the once-Dragon's Edge village, now overtaken by the Mentranians and Berserkers, used as a secretive prisoner bay by the regime.

In the moderate, relaxed, calm forests of Outpost Island, standing in a circle with one another, Hiccup, Eret, Snotlout, the twins, and the other Hooligans were contemplating a couple of minor details. Shiny, calmly flowing ponds were swaying with soothing water in the forest night near them.

"We're in total Berserker territory now, keep your eyes out folks." Blavery said, with Hiccup stood next to him.

"Why don't I just headbutt them again?" Eret said, as everyone began following Blavery's lead.

"Well we aren't, we'll have to take them out by their own method, if we're to save Astrid..." Blavery said.

"Right behind you on that, Blave." Hiccup nodded, as he, alongside the other Hooligans, held their own crossbows.

They all, as a group glued together, walked up the steep forests as the crickets echoed thickly amongst the trees. They were walking directly past that soothing pond, as all seemed quiet and relaxed, but straight away, the group caught a glimpse of light, with what appeared to be a hut of some sorts. It wasn't the actual edge, however, just yet.

"Stop..." Blavery gestured, with Hiccup and co stopping directly behind him, subsequently ducking down as a lit up hut, with two large Berserkers in front of it, came within their view.

Luckily, the pitch blackness of the midnight meant the Berserkers couldn't see the Hooligans. One Berserker was stood far out the front, and the other was nearer to the hut.

"Go for the head." Blavery said.

Straight away, Hiccup and Blavery fired their stealthy crossbows up towards the first Berserker, from the bushes they were ducked into, subsequently impaling the Berserker with the arrow, causing the large hostile to collapse. They couldn't afford being caught by the Mentranians and Berserkers whilst Astrid's practically being held hostile, so they had no choice but to do it this way with finishing whatever hostile they came across off.

And at the end of the day, these guys were fanatics, and murderous ones, so Hiccup didn't really have an issue with finishing off the vikings that were personnel of the regime.

They fired their arrows once again, this time at the second Berserker, and surprisingly, they accurately caught him in the head. The hostile went down to the floor as the Hooligans successfully flung their crossbow arrows into his head with the help of precision.

"Both down. Let's move, could be some more inside..." Blavery said, toning down to a whisper.

There were about 30+ Hooligans, that figure including Hiccup, Snotlout, Eret, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Fishlegs. Gobber wasn't here, and of course, Valka was back at New Berk with Gobber, looking after Zephyr and Nuffink. Even though they had the bigger numbers at the moment, it was still risky to be caught.

The Hooligans had found themselves walking in what felt like a pond that was engulfing the grass; sort of like a muddy texture, as they got up to the hut. As they got up to the medium-sized hut, steps and voices could be heard inside it. Blavery and Hiccup both stopped by the door.

"Get ready to raid, take them all out." Hiccup gestured, his hand on the doorknob.

They bashed the door open and instantly wrestled with the Berserkers; before they could yell, the Hooligans, totally engulfing the room with their numbers as the Berserkers tried to reach for their knives on the table, were knocked out cold before being impaled once again. Hiccup and co backed off straight away, as soon as the hopeless bodies of the Berserkers were on the wooden ground.

"Nice one guys. I think there'll be a couple more of these buildings just a couple of minutes ahead, and then we should be reaching the main edge village."

Inside the hut was a little note, left on the table. It was a type of message for the Berserkers, on behalf of the Mentranians. Hiccup & co didn't even notice it when they left the hut.

_Every foreign tribe, including the Hooligans, wants to carry on the work of Drago and Grimmel. Do not trust them, kill upon first sight if you come across any, for the protection of the Mentranian vikings. _

That was what it read, in viking symbols, but again, Hiccup and co simply left it on the table.

Moving upwards through the hilly forest in the midnight blackness, a couple more huts were approaching their eye vision. These ones had Berserkers sitting on chairs outside of them, but this time, a couple of Mentranians amongst them. The Hooligans all ducked down and sneaked within the bushes and forests that surrounded the guard huts.

They were nearing the edge. But these two guard huts, filled with hostile vikings, were a much bigger obstacle to get past than the first guard hut. Hiccup looked to Blavery, as Eret was shaking with the desire to just run at them all and knock them out.

"Some of us will have to sneak to the opposite direction, and get their attention." Blavery said.

"Me and Eret and some of the guys will go." Hiccup insisted, as he whispered in order to prevent the hostile vikings sitting outside the guard huts hearing them in the bushes.

A couple of minutes later, thankfully due to the midnight blackness, Hiccup and Eret, with a couple of other Hooligans, were able to sneak around the area in front of the two guard huts with Mentranians and Berserkers, to get to the other side. The plan was to distract them so Blavery's side, who had much more Hooligans with him, could fire at the hostiles.

"FANCY A KNOCKOUT?!" Eret yelled, to which the Berserkers and Mentranians both stood up, rapidly getting their weapons out in light of noticing the 'foreigner'.

"HOOLIGANS! ATTACK-" they yelled, before being absolutely pummelled by the arrows from the Hooligans from the other side.

Some of them missed, and there was a brief rumbling in the air from the sheer exchanges of arrows between the Mentranians and Berserkers, but in the end, Blavery's plan had worked. That was another set of guard huts down and eliminated, and it didn't look like anybody was inside the huts.

"Alright guys, let's move." Blavery whispered, gesturing for the Hooligans on his side to catch up with Hiccup.

"All of this sneaky stuff is intimidating, man..." Fishlegs said, as he glared at the fallen bodies of the Berserkers and Mentranians in front of the two guard huts.

The Hooligans had all joined up once again, this time continuing their walk upwards in the steep forest, no longer in a wet grass environment where it felt like mud. The pond from earlier on didn't extend all the way here, so it was a totally dry area. Their footsteps within the grass, however, made them a dead giveaway, and they needed to be careful about that as a result.

As they moved upwards, they finally came to a flat land in the forest as the climb came to a halt. Movement within the forests and trees surrounding this flat piece of area had prompted the Hooligans, including Hiccup and co, to aim their weapons up. Hiccup specifically felt his heart ache at hearing footsteps emerge within the trees ahead.

"DON'T SHOOT US..." a manly voice echoed.

That was a voice Hiccup recognised, strangely enough.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Blavery said, trying not to yell, as the midnight darkness meant he was basically talking into a void, he could barely see the trees ahead.

"LET ME AND MY MEN COME OUT...WE CAN TELL YOU AREN'T ONE OF THEM..." the voice yelled.

"KEEP IT DOWN THEN, THEY MIGHT HEAR US!" Blavery replied.

The source of the voice stepped out, arms slightly raised up; a full on beard, a helmet with many spikes, and just a general resemblance to Stoick with that beard, had prompted Hiccup to gasp. It was Alvin the Treacherous, with the Outcasts slowly regrouping behind him. Both the Hooligans and Outcasts instantly turned their voices down.

"H-Hiccup?" Alvin gasped.

"A-Alvin? what're you doing here?!"

"You've grown up...so much?! it's been so long...and what're you doing here?!"

The both of them were genuinely shocked to see each other. And for Hiccup, Alvin seemed to have changed into a whole different viking; he just didn't have that dark, cruel, ruthless nastiness to him anymore, and despite the numerous causalities Alvin's caused in the past, and the hostility Hiccup and Alvin once had, the wide, Outcast Chieftan seemed like somebody who never would've had such a past. Something's happened to him over this decade, it seemed.

"We'll talk more about it at a better time...but...what're you doing here?"

"It's those Mentranians. Our island is only an hour away from Mentra, well, you know what I mean, right? once Berk, now Mentra, which is still weird to grasp..." Alvin conceded, "they've been launching attacks against us over recent times. We didn't even know of their existence until a few months ago, so we're off to put an end to them. But their grasp on Mentra is far too strong to attack directly, so we've come here to destroy them from the outside. You?"

"It's the same here. They've captured Astrid, though. We put a stop to their so-called defence deterrent of dragons that they were looking to build, and now we need to rescue Astrid before they do something bad to her."

"You guys...know each other?" Blavery asked.

"Yeah, it'll be fair to say that we haven't exactly had the bestest of pasts...but it seems like we have common ground, old boy..."

"Uh, we do?" Blavery said.

"You know what, I think we do indeed." Hiccup said.

"They even killed Dagur and replaced him with an insane maniac, even more so than Dagur...Fludgeon the Feared, they call him. Those Mentranians...and Fludgeon's Berserkers...their brutality, Hiccup boy, they've changed me...I've never seen anything like it, they're running some sort of cruel, closed off life style for everyone back on what was once Berk...what would your father think?" Alvin said.

"He'd be distressed at the fact my wife is being held hostage."

The outcasts behind Alvin, all sharpening their bright, giant, steel battleaxes, all were eagerly awaiting for the next direction to go in.

"Tell you what son, we'll catch up at a better time...let's work together, save your wife, and we'll go from there..." Alvin proposed, putting his hand out to a much older, bearded Hiccup, something Alvin was struggling to comprehend after not seeing him for so long.

Hiccup gladly shook Alvin's hand.

"It's...I dare to say, great to see you again...I do hope we can help each other in bringing down this fanatical system on Berk..."

"That's the spirit, son..." Alvin said, looking to his men shortly afterwards to brief them on the new plan.

"Alright, so we're working with these guys? that's fine by me, as long as we can cooperate all the way." Blavery insisted.

"Trust me, Blave, with your help and Alvin's help, that regime will be down like a waterfall. Astrid will be saved, and we can pay them the favour back afterwards." Hiccup nodded, feeling much more optimistic, in light of reuniting with Alvin the Treacherous.

"Alright Hiccup son, the Mentranians, from what we know, see all of the outside tribes as workers of Grimmel and Drago, and that we know for sure when they've attacked our island. But it's odd how they've signed some sort of treaty with the Berserkers, possibly because the new Chieftan of them is a bigger maniac than Dagur."

"Alright, we better get a move on to the edge, quick, everyone, and uh...you guys too, follow me..." Blavery instructed.


	20. Empty handed

**CHAPTER 20: Empty handed**

Alvin's Outcasts, piling up with Hiccup and the Hooligans, were carefully making their way towards an open space from the forest in the pitch black. Hiccup and Alvin were both leading the way. As the Hooligans and Outcasts approached the clear grass vicinity, a distinctive rock structure could be seen, with a watch tower standing right over it, and indeed, there appeared to be somebody on top of the tower, sitting down.

This was the 'edge' of the island, where the main village was. Specifically, it was the place the Hooligans had to sail away from in order to not be seen by the hostiles when coming here. That watch tower was going to be a problem, though.

As the moon shone its crystal whiteness over the thick clouds surrounding the pitch black skies, Hiccup, Blavery and Alvin, alongside Eret, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs, and the rest of the Hooligans and Outcasts, had all stopped in their ducked down positions just slightly in front of the watch tower.

"Keep quiet, the door's open to the tower, we'll go up and take him out." Alvin said, "my guys will leap down to the main portion of the edge from here, you guys go and support them from the top." Alvin said to Hiccup.

"Good idea. Let's get into position whilst these guys make their way down." Blavery nodded, as Alvin and a couple of Outcasts slowly entered the watch tower, subsequently, and slowly, making their way up the stairs.

"When he shines the flame light on us from the top, Hiccup," one of the Outcasts uttered, "we'll commence our attack. As will you."

"Got it."

Hiccup and the Hooligans had all positioned themselves surrounding the edge of the grassy hill that came before the main village, giving them a bird's eye view. The Outcasts, meanwhile, had all slowly slid their way down those hills to quietly leap onto elevated land that'd allow them to jump into the village. Hiccup took his crossbow out, as did Fishlegs and the rest of the Hooligans, aiming them down at the village, with the Outcasts unveiling their giant, silver battleaxes in their preparation to infiltrate the Mentranian-held Dragon's Edge.

There was a huge chunk of Mentranians all across the edge village. Some were laying against the wall as they spoke to their fellow colleagues, whilst others were simply wandering around in a patrol style, with their venomous crossbows. There were more Berserkers here than there were at dragon island, something Hiccup had observed quite clearly.

It'd have been helpful if Hiccup and everyone had picked up the venomous arrows of the Mentranians they've already taken out before, but it was something that had totally escaped Blavery's head.

A struggle, like a bang, could be heard emitting from the top of the large watch tower. A punch, followed by a slam, sounding like giant boulders being pelted, was what the Hooligans had heard since they were the closest to the tower. Alvin had dangled his long-bearded face over the tower, giving the thumbs up as he shone the silver plate with flames downwards to create a flash-light effect, shining to the ground the Hooligans were at. That was the signal.

"Alright, be ready to attack." Blavery said.

The Hooligans fired their crossbows into the edge, followed by the Outcasts jumping down. Instantly, the Mentranians and Berserkers started yelling, raising their crossbows up collectively as the battle to take back the edge and Astrid commenced.

"FOREIGNERS! ATTACK!" one Mentranian yelled.

The Outcasts had managed to make a good leap into the village, but there were far too many venomous-arrow-equipped Mentranians in the huts nearby. Some of the Outcasts had ran out and gone into combat with the Berserkers, but the Mentranians were in far greater numbers than expected, meaning they were able to hold off the Outcasts quite strongly, due to their venomous arrows.

The whole village was emitting a colossal sound of yelling, arrows being shot, like bullet sounds, and generally a sound of struggle. The battle was on.

"Hiccup, we ought to take out those Mentranians at the huts, so Alvin's men can get further into this place." Blavery pointed, as the Outcasts couldn't fully make their way further in due to the Mentranians.

"EVERYBODY, AIM LIKE ME!" Hiccup yelled, as he, alongside everyone else, raised their crossbows up at the Mentranians in question; from here, they fired their arrows collectively at the same time, like a storm, and they managed to pelt the Mentranians head first, instantly sending them down to the floor.

At that, the Outcasts rushed their way in, finding themselves being charged back at by raging Berserkers, who's helmets were as spiky as a bull's horn. Except they were in pure metal. As a result, some of the Berserkers rushed at the Outcasts with their heads down.

The Hooligans remained at the top of the village from the grassy hills near the watch tower, as they continued to be the rangers of this battle, whilst the Outcasts were the physical fighters. Some Outcasts were already on the floor due to being fired at by the Mentranians, whilst some Berserkers were brutally knocked down from some of the battleaxes utilised by the Outcasts. There was blood already in this fierce battle to rescue Astrid.

In the seas in front of the village, dozens of small wooden boats had emerged from the blind spots of the terrain. These were hidden reinforcements from the Mentranians abd Berserkers, evidently. The numbers seemed to be growing bigger on the enemy side, despite the Outcasts giving a good fight to them.

"Oh my...they're bringing in more?!" Blavery said, looking at the slow moving boats.

"More what?" Hiccup asked.

"Those boats, look..." Blavery said, pointing Hiccup to the somewhat camouflaged boats, "they're bringing in more...that's not good for Alvin's men, who-"

In the loud, thick struggles being echoed, from metal weapons colliding, to arrows being shot, to the yells, from the pure brutality of this battle, Blavery, who couldn't speak that loud enough anyways so Hiccup could hear him, was interrupted by a returning Alvin.

"Hiccup son, there's more Mentranian boats coming in, we need to add to my men's numbers, I've got a good idea, follow me." Alvin the Treacherous said.

"But we need to save Astrid, Alvin?" Hiccup said.

"Not a problem, boy, once we've eliminated their reinforcements and have totally overtaken this place, we'll be able to search the huts to bring your wife to safety and back to whatever island you're on nowadays." Alvin the Treacherous said.

"Alright. GUYS, LET'S GO!" Hiccup yelled, gesturing for his fellow Hooligans to follow Alvin.

"WHEN CAN WE RELAX MAN?!" Snotlout asked.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Hiccup replied.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, JESUS...LET'S JUST FINISH THESE MANIACS THEN..." Snotlout conceded.

The Hooligans had all moved, in the midst of the thunderous roars of the battle, containing yelling and screams of pain, with the collision of metals. They all rushed around the top of where they were standing, to the main edge of their vicinity. They ran over to the direction of ground that was besides the engulfed vicinity of the edge, enabling them an open view of the Mentranian reinforcements.

"ALRIGHT GUYS, FIRE AT THE BOATS BEFORE THE MENTRANIANS CAN GET ONTO THE EDGE!" Alvin yelled, as Blavery nodded at that.

Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Blavery, Alvin, Ruffnut and Tuffnut (surprisingly being serious for once), and the other Hooligans had all opened their arrows at the boats in the distance. Because they were so high up, they initially struggled to adjust their crossbow aims, but they eventually got the gist of it all. For the first time, however, since this battle commenced, the Berserkers and Mentranians on the boats had opened fire at the Hooligans themselves, which caught the Hooligans by surprise.

"VENOM ARROWS, QUICKLY, GET BACK SLIGHTLY!" Blavery yelled, as all the Hooligans quickly retreated a couple of spaces backwards, some tripping they were wanting to stay out of the range of the venomous arrows.

"SIR, FOREIGNERS ARE ON THE CLIFFS BESIDES THE EDGE!" one Mentranian on one of the boats yelled, as his fellow Mentranians and Berserker allies rallied themselves for entry upon the edge.

The fighting was echoing fierce roars and yells in the edge, but the Mentranians on the boats had a trick up their sleeve that they had specifically crafted for any hostile encounters during this recently-declared war.

The captain of the reinforcements quickly pulled out from a storage segment of the wooden boat a round object with a distinct spiky pin. The round area itself was made of pure wood.

"This'll burn them down. Load up the catapult gentlemen." the Mentranian captain viking commanded.

The Hooligans saw arrows being fired up towards themselves from the Mentranian boats in the seas below, but because they retreated slightly, the arrows weren't able to glide in the air enough to hit.

"KEEP AT IT, WE'VE ALREADY HIT A FEW OF THEM!" Alvin yelled.

The Hooligans continued to fire. They had the advantage because they were high up, whereas the Mentranians and Berserkers were low down. Blavery, having a firm eye sight towards the boats, had caught some sort of giant contraption being flung upwards on the boats, like a catapult, before seeing something, like a round object, suddenly flying in the air directly above himself and onto the ground; there was a flame on it.

"OH GOD, GET BACK GUYS, HICCUP, GET BAAACCKKK!" Blavery yelled.

"IT'S A BOMB, QUICK EVERYONE, GET BAAACKKK!" Hiccup yelled, as all the Hooligans retreated much more significantly, tripping amongst one another.

The viking grenade had gone off, just as the Hooligans had all charged like predators away from it, tripping over each other in the process. A huge ball of flames and a surge of heat, subsequently after a thunderous thud, had come as a result of the grenade exploding. Afterwards, the sheer darkness of the burnt vicinity meant that it was camouflaged into the pitch blackness.

"BLAVERY, YOU NEVER SAID THEY HAD BOMBS?!"

"HICCUP, THEY KEEP SECRETS FROM THEIR OWN DEFENDERS UNTIL IT MATTERS, I TOLD YOU!"

"WE COULD'VE DIED JUST NOW. WE HAVE TO GET INTO THE EDGE ITSELF."

"GUYS, GUYS, JUST CALM DOWN A MINUTE..WE'RE NEARLY ABLE TO GET INTO THE EDGE, BUT THE REINFORCEMENT BOATS ARE AT THE EDGE..THE HOSTILES ARE PILING UP, AND MY MEN ARE RUNNING INTO A HEAVIER RESISTANCE."

"BUT WE NEED TO GET INSIDE NOW!" Hiccup yelled, in the midst of the battle.

"I KNOW, BUT IF WE CAN HOLD THEM BACK, THE SAFER YOUR WIFE WILL BE TO RETRIEVE!"

"I CAN'T, ALVIN, I CAN'T. WE'LL GO INTO THE EDGE AND FEND THEM OFF OURSELVES. THEY'VE DRIVEN THEM BACK ENOUGH, SURELY?!"

"HICCUP...-"

"NO QUESTIONS, WE'RE GOING IN NOW. WE'LL HELP YOUR MEN ON OUR WAY TO SAVING ASTRID."

"I-fine. I'll meet you down at the edge shortly, Hiccup."

"SNOTLOUT, FISHLEGS, RUFFNUT, TUFFNUT, AND ERET, GUYS...WE NEED TO REACH THE AREA WHERE THEY'RE KEEPING ASTRID BEFORE THEY DO ANYTHING..."

"Chances are, Hiccup, she'll be in the biggest hut."

"THEN THAT IS WHERE WE SHALL CHARGE TOWARDS. WE'RE GLIDING DOWN. READY UP." Hiccup declared.

The Hooligans behind Hiccup & co were intending on following the same path that Alvin's men had initially gone down to get inside the edge's main vicinity, whilst their Chieftan in Hiccup, alongside Eret and the lot, were going to fly down using their wing suits.

Hiccup, Blavery, and everyone else, opened up their arms into the air, to unveil their leather wings attached. Hiccup felt himself have goosebumps as he leapt off of the cliff to fly directly into the edge. Everyone else followed him down. Placing his face helmet down, Hiccup was fully protected. As he glided in the air like a kite, he made a swift landing just besides the Outcasts as bodies of both Mentranians and Berserkers rested around. Hiccup wasted no time in making a charge towards the biggest hut there was, the one where Blavery had suggested Astrid would be.

There were still a fair few Mentranians in the edge, and Hiccup, fully protected, didn't hold back in rushing towards them as they initially engaged with the Outcasts with their venomous arrows. Hiccup, fully covered up, rushed over to one Mentranian who was ducked down behind some wood, grabbing him by the head before sending a harsh fist directly into the hostile's nose, breaking it and subsequently sending the hostile down to the ground.

Hiccup wasn't usually this violent, but in the midst of the brutal battle where Astrid's life is potentially at risk, he had no choice. He had to pay the favour back towards the fanatics he and his lot were up against anyways.

One Berserker charged towards Hiccup, yelling out loud with his sword raised up, and just as Hiccup looked to duck him due to the sheer difference in width, an Outcast had rushed to Hiccup's aid, rushing to the Berserker from besides the Chieftan to exchange collisions with the Berserker's dangerous sword.

"HICCUP, YOU GO IN, WE'LL DRIVE THEM AWAY. GO!" the Outcast yelled, struggling in his fight against the Berserker.

Hiccup obliged gladly. He ran like a predator towards the biggest hut of the edge, unable to remember this place from the days of it being used as a home for the dragons due to the battle. He also couldn't recall fully the distinctive huts he and the rest used to have on here, again because of the circumstances. His suit made him sweat even more, his heart was beating a million beats, and his throat was as dry as the desert.

Finally, Hiccup, specifically aiming for the large hut where the Mentranians supposedly keep captured prisoners, had arrived. The Outcasts had done a good job of pushing back the Mentranians and Berserkers, because from what it looked like, apart from a few that Hiccup had those altercations with just now, there seemed to be no more.

Hiccup stepped back, and slammed his metal leg onto the front door, bashing it open, unveiling nothing more than an empty, dark, haunted-esque inside; Astrid wasn't here.

"Oh no..." Hiccup said, pulling up his face cover of his Toothless wing suit.

A few footsteps could be heard approaching Hiccup from the side in the darkness of the room. An arm from the darkness had suddenly wrapped itself around Hiccup's neck. Instantly, Hiccup struggled around, as the Mentranian tightened his grasp of the Chieftan's neck. Hiccup couldn't see the face of the hostile due to the darkness. Hiccup sent his fist up towards the direction behind his shoulder, managing to slam the Mentranian face first. Instantly, Hiccup leapt over and slammed the Mentranian to the floor. He held the hostile by his neck.

"WHERE'S MY WIFE?!" Hiccup yelled, keeping the Mentranian gripped to the ground back first.

The Mentranian simply coughed as Hiccup held his throat.

"YOU'VE GOT ABOUT TEN SECONDS TO TELL ME WHERE MY WIFE IS!" Hiccup threatened.

"I-I WILL NEVER TELL A FOREIGNER-" The Mentranian was unable to finish his sentence; Hiccup knew what he was going to say, and that had prompted the Chieftan to just attack him, from the pure anger he received from the Mentranian's refusal to tell him where Astrid is.

Hiccup ran with the Mentranian grasped on the back of his head, sending the hostile viking face-first into the wooden wall, causing the Mentranian's metal gear to collapse onto the ground as he too fell flat from the head-first collision against the wall forced upon him by Hiccup. The Mentranian instantly collapsed.

Alvin the Treacherous and Blavery had both rushed inside, seeing Hiccup stood besides a fallen, collapsed, and damaged Mentranian.

"Hiccup, my men have driven the enemies off of here, they're all evacuating...did you find her?" Alvin said, with Hiccup looking distraught with tears in his eyes.

"She isn't here..." Hiccup conceded, breathing heavily from the energy of the battle.

"I-I'm so sorry, Hiccup...but like this guy said, they're now evacuating from here, we've managed to overtake it...this war may have only begun, but we've already defeated them in one spot. I...we should check the other huts to make sure Astrid's here, you never know..."

"I want to meet this Hawkon maniac face-to-face so I can give him whatever he's going to do to her...she's not here, though, guys...what's the point?" Hiccup weakly said, as he broke down into a subtle cry.

"Hiccup, I promise, we'll find her. But we've done a good thing here...even if Astrid's still held on Mentra, we've significantly weakened their defence force of Mentranian vikings. Because of that, your wife is safer...we'll find her, I promise..." Blavery said, walking up to Hiccup.

"Hiccup, we'll come back with you to your new island...my men want to help you in conquering this Hawkon fellow."

Hiccup appreciated Alvin and Blavery, and the Outcasts for joining their side in destroying the Berserkers and Mentranians here, but to Hiccup, that wasn't the main point, because ultimately, Astrid wasn't here on this island after all. He was genuinely praying to Odin that she was still alive.


	21. Intention after victory

**CHAPTER** **21: Intention after victory**

"Sir Hawkon, we've had to pull back from our fallback prisoner bay over this week." one of his advisers said, having been within the armada of Mentranians and Berserkers that had been on the edge during the confrontation with the Hooligans and Outcasts.

Hawkon was inside an isolated building, out of the view of the regular Mentranians as to be expected. He knows that there's a war between his regime and the outsiders looking to bring it down, because it's a war he himself declared. But over the past two weeks, Mentra, apart from the battle it had on the edge with the Hooligans and Outcasts earlier in the week, has been awfully quiet in terms of targeting the Hooligan's home island. The regime hasn't attacked New Berk at all.

Also in the room was a certain squad of Mentranian vikings. All besides Hawkon like statues as they maintained their dignity and professionalism around their leader.

"You had to pull back?" the young Mentranian leader questioned.

"Yeah. We could make out the Hooligans attacking us from the forest, and there was another tribe of foreigners with them. In the end, their infiltration of the bay was too much for us."

"Our defenders are striking the Hooligans with effort, as are our Berserker allies, so it's painfully disappointing that, at a time of war, you're showing incompetence. Where has your competence gone?"

"Father," the adviser's face was warming up from the anxiety, "we didn't anticipate them approaching us in the manner they did."

"We're at war. You should be planning these things out. If the Hooligans carry on achieving these little victories against our men, be in no doubt that our strength will be compromised. Our sovereignty will be at risk."

"I know. This war is crucial for our island, father. I understand the importance of needing to win it. I can assure you that we'll be defeating the one-legged bane and his tribe of foreigners. I fully accept the responsibility of us having to evacuate from the bay."

The adviser, who was also an adviser under Hawkon's father when he was leader, figured that confessing to his mistakes would be a much better thing to do than to try and steer the blame away, especially when it came to Hawkon.

"You're right. And I hold you responsible for that failure as well. And at a time of war, there's no space for mistakes." Hawkon declared. "Therefore, you are to be discharged from your current position of influence, and sentenced to a punishment deserving of those who compromise Mentra's ability to fend off the enemy."

"Wha-what?" the adviser stuttered.

The Mentranian squad besides Hawkon raised their crossbows up. The adviser took a couple of steps back as his heart began racing. Hawkon simply looked at the frightened adviser with a straight, solemn expression. The squad had opened their crossbows to the adviser, firing tens of arrows into his now fleeing body, before the adviser simply fell down to the floor, covered with arrows.

The death squad of Mentra, Hawkon's personal asset as apart of his intention to maintain power, has just committed a death sentence upon the subtle request of the Mentranian leader.

Nobody within Mentra's close ranks are safe. During this war, if somebody is evidently responsible for a failure, they're as good as dead. Hawkon wanted no incompetence within his defence force.

In this period of war, the young dictatorial viking felt totally relaxed in being this ruthless despot. If he's to defeat the Hooligans, and Hiccup, he has to take a tougher and more brutal stance in his ruling over Mentra than his father ever did. He may have let Guddorn off the hook when the leader of the deterrent program was forced to abandon dragon island, alongside his colleagues, after the Hooligans attacked them, but Hawkon sees value in Guddorn, and it wasn't in a period of war, unlike now and with this adviser.

"Nobody shall live to see our island suffer countless failures in this crucial period. Clear this up men and we'll talk to the defenders about our intentions afterwards." the Mentranian leader said.

Whilst Mentra and the regime sounds and looks like it doesn't have a grand plan for this war, in reality, it really does. It's just going to take some time for it to be viable. It required the construction of what Guddorn described as 'human-dragon-flying suits', also known as the wing suits used by Hiccup & co in the colours of their dragons.

* * *

Addressing a packed hall of defenders, Hawkon was in front of all of them behind a wooden podium, whereby the hall was quiet enough for him to be able to echo across the corners of the giant room what he was about to say. These weren't the only defenders Mentra had either, there were tons more, but they couldn't all fit in the hall.

"Gentlemen. We're officially at war with the Hooligans. Our armada and our men had a huge grip on the prisoner bay to the north east. I won't hide my disappointment for your inability to hold the enemies off. If this failure carries on, your inability to defeat the enemies and protect our sovereignty will be seen as traitorous in the eyes of our vikings."

Hawkon moved a few bits of paper on his podium to the side; it looked like he was reading off of them to perfectly explain his intended outcome of this war.

"As things stand, our defenders must pursue the Hooligans and whatever allies they may have, for two reasons. The first is to 'test' their might and their strength, and the second is to hold them off until we launch our ultimate plan. This plan seeks to end this war in our favour in the quickest and most efficient way possible, a way that the Hooligans will never see coming, and one that will surely guarantee our victory."

"We have already rid their Chieftan of his wife. We can rid them of their land too, regardless of the high altitude. All of this will be possible in our new plan. This is a highly secretive piece of information that, should it be spread outwards, will result in an immediate punishment of the highest calibre. No longer can you all make mistakes. It's either competence or danger from this point on wards. There'll be no space for incompetence, and the overseers party of our island will make sure of that, as will I."

The defenders all remained still, as their leader continued onto the plan.

"We must prepare for our victory starting from now. That is why, as apart of our grand plan, we must take up as much land as we can find, starting with dragon island that we initially lost. Mentra must become flexible to hold off the enemies from all sides and positions. Whatever there is in this archipelago, we take. We turn into ours. The ongoing pact with our Berserker allies will make this more viable."

Hawkon continued on.

"An hour from us rests a hostile island that we have consistently shown our might to. That might must now turn into a full scale invasion, whereby we conquer that island of outcasts and make it our own. We retake, we invade, and we conquer anything in this archipelago, in preparation for when we inevitably attack the homeland of the Hooligans. There's another significant aspect of this plan that I will hold off on revealing until it has been formally finalised. But ultimately, we must use our strength and allies to take over lands on this whole archipelago, from our enemies and any foreigner tribes. That way, this war will lean more towards our favour and the Hooligans will no longer have anywhere to fall back on."

Hawkon was looking to finish his speech to his defenders. That was nowhere the plan in its entirety, it was just a preview of it. Hawkon had a map of the archipelago for himself on his podium, and a short while ago he had made a giant circle around the archipelago. With two truly telling terms in the middle of it, obviously written in the viking symbols.

_Mega Mentra._

The end goal for Hawkon was for him to rule over the whole archipelago with an iron fist, with it being called under his rule 'Mega Mentra'. That was the intention for when they conquer New Berk and the Hooligans.

Mentra used to boast about not striking first, and not being provocative to outside tribes, but it's been attacking Outcast Island as Alvin revealed, for quite a short while now, and Hawkon's intention of ruling over the entire archipelago, with a wide-spread cult of personality around him, clearly demonstrates that the regime has changed its path quite significantly.

But it didn't care. Any pledge Hawkon made about the regime's standing in the overall world of vikings was scrapped. This was war time, so it had to be done.

This war may have begun with the Hooligans fending off his defenders at the 'prisoner bay', also known as Dragon's Edge to the Hooligans, but Hawkon's plan started with the invasion of Outcast Island, with the help of the Berserkers his regime was in a treaty with. Losing the prisoner bay was only a minor loss to Hawkon, but it was still enough for the adviser to be killed on the spot for the failure to hold onto it.

* * *

Guddorn the Glorious, the Mentranian who was initially responsible for the deterrent program of Mentra, was currently in a tense one-on-one meeting with the Mentranian leader in Hawkon. Guddorn was about to be assigned the new leader of the current armada of Berserkers & Mentranians which'll sail to Outcast Island and invade it, ridding it of any Outcasts that Alvin & co may have left to guard the island.

"Sir Hawkon." Guddorn saluted.

Guddorn and Hawkon were in the Mentranian overseers party headquarters, situated somewhere in the middle of Mentra. It was as large as the hall that the Mentranian was in before. It had a wooden table, in a half circle shape, with various empty chairs, as well as a hundreds of other chairs ahead. Hawkon was at the middle chair of the circled table. This table was where overseers party associates of Mentra would usually sit, conducting meetings with each other to discuss the inside and outside affairs surrounding Mentra. But given that the regime was now at war, the overseers party was always discussing tactics.

Guddorn was stood right ahead of the large table, as Hawkon looked on.

"You had a valiant effort in our deterrent program. And given we're now in a crucial war with the Hooligans, it's vital that we have a strong lead in our men and Berserker allies. Have you been briefed on the plan by Larson?"

"Our dear second in command? I have, father. Sir Gustav has briefed me on the plan, and I've been given the grand scheme of it as well."

"Very good. Although I ought to say this; that grand scheme is one we aren't going to talk about, even if we're in an isolated vicinity like this one. We have to keep it forbidden and under trusted minds if it is to work with no obstacles. But one part of it I can reveal is that when we win this war and capture the blood of the Hooligans and their children, this whole archipelago will be engulfed into our sovereignty. Mentra will expand."

"I applause this plan, father."

"Indeed. And I'm glad to hear your endorsement, because I'm going to be giving you the position one of my father's advisers failed us with. Leading the battles on our side."

Guddorn had tons of experience in that area.

"Father, this is an honour. I promise you that I'll ensure our armadas will-"

"You need to hear the details, Guddorn. Bear with me for a moment. As the commander of our armada, you'll be tasked with not only testing the strength of the Hooligans, but you'll also be guiding our men into showing off their ultimate might, where you'll hold the Hooligans off, until our plan has been fully finalised. As it stands, the one secretive aspect of our plan has yet to be finalised. This war is ours to toy with, so you will toy with the Hooligans, hold them off, and then our actual attack will begin once this plan has been finalised."

Guddorn the Glorious was honoured to have received such an endorsement from the Mentranian leader.

"I'm eternally grateful for this position, father. The Viking's Mentra will definitely have a might never seen before by the foreigners." Guddorn proudly declared.

"That's what we need to be hearing, because as apart of this war, we need to start neutralising and conquering as much land as possible around this archipelago. Therefore, you will be leading the invasion of the Outcast Island just an hour from us, to initiate that process."

Guddorn nodded.

"What we need to be doing, before we launch our true and actual attack on the Hooligans, is to stretch out our influence and presence across the archipelago as much as possible, so if the Hooligans ever sail within a close distance of us, they won't ever get a 'head start' per say, whilst we cook up our plan. It'll also light the way for our intention after our victory. You will also be leading the mission for reclaiming the prisoner bay that my adviser initially lost us to the Hooligans."

"Sir, we will take no prisoners. I will lead our armada with the passionate might it possesses. We will sweep over the whole archipelago like a wave. No amount of Hooligans will be able to stop us engulfing the area." Guddorn confidently declared, feeling confident in his ability to lead the armadas of Mentra.

"Your words are satisfactory. I'm going to be stationing the Chieftan of the Berserkers, our ally leader, in another position for this war. Gustav Larson, your second in command, will be situated within the same roles as I will be taking. Strong leadership and competence will win us this war.

"Rest assured, when we attack the Outcasts, as we've already shown them our might over these passing weeks, they'll be cornered and finished off in the way the Hooligans will be once our plan enables us to strike their tall home land."

"Haddock's wife will be greeted by the Hooligans and her husband very soon, wouldn't you agree?" Hawkon declared, still proud of the fact that his regime had executed the wife of Hiccup, which was pretty much the firing bullet for this war to start.

"No doubt. All foreigners shall be crushed under us."

At that, the Mentranian leader and the now-leader of Mentra's armada shook hands. The war was now about to get even more brutal, and Mentra hasn't even got started on its 'real' attack on the Hooligans yet.

Outcast Island is inevitably about to be invaded by Mentra. It's a good thing Alvin had left, but him being gone means there isn't any leadership on the island to fend off the upcoming invasion.


	22. Wartime life

**CHAPTER 22: Wartime life**

Having declared war on the Hooligans, Mentra's leadership that is, after the Hooligans 'destroyed' and 'stole' the defence program, the lives of regular Mentranian vikings had taken a drastic turn downwards.

The regime cut back its weekly fish handouts across the island, to keep as much supplies as possible for its defenders. This meant that the Mentranian vikings were even more starved and hungry.

Mentranian fishermen were still continuing with their jobs, but the regime had banned their days off, in order for the fishers to keep up with the supply and demand, on behalf of the defenders, of fish and general food for their war efforts.

Basically, the Mentranian vikings were already under a strict lifestyle where they were being watched from every vicinity (it felt like), but with the war commenced, life for them became strict, timed by a hundred. Prior to the leadership declaring war, some of the Mentranian vikings didn't mind the fact that they had to bow down to the leader and constantly show their respect, nor did they mind the life style under Mentra generally, because they had grown used to it, and they felt like they had something to do every day.

Now? again, they couldn't speak out due to their lives being at risk if they did, but they all secretly couldn't cope any longer. That was down to the food crisis, and the public execution they had all witnessed a week ago; some of the Mentranian vikings couldn't get over that image.

Stemp, the Mentranian mother of two young vikings, was an example. She didn't want to go to that execution a week ago, but she was forced to under the leadership's command, as were her fellow regular Mentranians. She didn't want her children seeing it either.

It caused a mental breakdown in her, just recalling the pure imagery of whoever it was, the blonde female viking, being shot by that crossbow head first, by the second in command. It horrified her, and it was something that was going to stick in her mind for the rest of her life.

Despite this, Stemp still, on her gear, had a mini outline, like a logo, of Hawkon's face on the top left corner of her viking top, as did the other Mentranians across the island. And she also had a large portrait of the old Mentranian leader, Hawkon's father, in her hut, as she was required to, like her fellow regular Mentranians again. The cult of personality was enforced with strictness and power by the regime, even in this time of war with the Hooligans.

"Mum, are you okay?" one of Stemp's children asked, as the regular Mentranian viking looked to heat up a fish for dinner.

Stemp was as pale as a vampire, she couldn't even focus on getting the salmon warmed up.

This was what the regime was now doing to the sanity of its vikings. And to think, this island used to be Old Berk, a place of freedom and joy with the Hooligans, but now, with the regime firmly in place upon it over the past decade, it's now an island of depression and anxiety. Stoick, when he was alive, wouldn't have wanted his generational island to be the host of such things. It's one of the reasons why Hiccup and the Berkians have gone to war with the Mentranians, to take back Old Berk from them and destroy the regime upon it.

"I'm so sorry.." Stemp said, moving away from the fish to walk over towards her two children.

She hugged them both with the tightest hug she's ever given.

Her two children, Emer, a young Mentranian viking girl, and Rald, a young little Mentranian viking boy, were amongst hundreds of other young vikings on the island that were being fed Mentranian propaganda by the regime's schooling sessions that they, by the policies, were required to attend. Their location of schooling was precisely where Astrid was executed, which made Stemp feel all the more anxious.

She feared for her children. A lone, anxious mother viking who hated the regime she was living under, but couldn't speak out against it for the fear of her life.

"We're fine, mum." Rald replied, seemingly casually.

"Are you..crying mummy?" Emer subsequently asked.

"God, children...I just can't take feeling like this any more. We live under a fanatical cult...you children shouldn't have had to seen that the other week.." Stemp said, with subtle tears coming down her cheeks as she remained knelt to her children.

"But mummy...there's nothing to be sad about, right?" Emer said, the young Mentranian girl genuinely confused as to why her mother was sad.

"Yeah. Our respected leader got somebody who wanted to...do bad things to us all, killed mum...isn't that good?" Rald said.

Stemp's heart ached at hearing that. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be true. But it was true; the regime's propaganda has worked with her two children. Now, they genuinely believed it all. It was the schooling sessions. This was exactly the intent of the regime, to brainwash not just its vikings, but the children, so they could become genuine patriots and supporters of the Mentranian leadership.

The fact that the propaganda has made Rald and Emer see public executions, in light of the island-wide one with Astrid a week ago, as an every day, needed thing to defend their island, made Stemp feel like she could be sick. She felt...guilty, for letting her children be taken in this way.

But what could she do? absolutely nothing. Should she dare speak out against Hawkon's cult of personality, it'll be off to the isolation camps, which'll be the same for Emer and Rald. She hadn't the strength nor the confidence to even consider defecting the island with her children. The large wooden, barbed wire borders around Mentra's sides made that impossible for her anyways.

"And if we...uh, if we talk bad about our leader...we might be told off!" Emer innocently said.

Dear god.

Stemp wasn't mad at her children. It's not their fault. It's the fault of Hawkon and the fanatical regime that she's forced to live under, with her two children.

* * *

Anxiety and fear was rampant in the regime amongst the regular vikings. As mentioned already, you'd never get anything like this during the time it was Berk, a decade ago, Hiccup as Chieftan, before Grimmel came along. The fact this regime started from a medium sized group of vikings a decade ago, only to expand into what it is now, just shows the pure strength of it, in terms of the cult of personality, and the power it's got over its regular vikings.

One part of that pure strength, in light of the war with the Hooligans, is forcing the regulars to participate, all across the island, in large chants and dancing sessions and rallies, to commemorate the 'dear father' as they call Hawkon, for his 'courage to attempt to end our enemies'.

There was no yes and no, like the schooling sessions for the young Mentranian children. You either took part in these sessions or you'd be punished harshly. Whether it was cold, night, morning, raining, you still took part in them.

The regular Mentranians have never had a choice, they'd always be forced to do something even if they didn't want to, as apart of the regime's policies on various matters. They basically lacked what we'd call human rights. It was horrible, and them having less food to eat was a prime example of them lacking what we'd call human rights.

Dozens and dozens of regular Mentranians were stood in one large circle within the village nearer to the middle of Mentra, where the forest used to be. One portion of the village that they were standing at was engulfed, surrounded by cliff-like surroundings. Huts were on the edges at the top, and the only colour that could be seen was brown.

The reason why this part of the village was engulfed looking was because it used to be where the cove was. The famous, legendary cove when this island was still Berk. When the Mentranians deforested the island a decade ago, they deforested the cove and turned it into a unique looking part of the village.

One Mentranian, who looked to be in his early 30s, held what looked like some sort of drum in his grasp, with a stick to play it with. Besides him was a defender, who was monitoring this rally and dancing parade. The Mentranian men (forcefully) taking part in this rally wore pure brown gear, whilst the women wore colourful dresses that looked as shiny as silk.

Mentra wanted no colour in its villages or huts, but for this occasion, it was to celebrate Hawkon's 'courage' in his attempt to lead the Mentranians to a victory over the Hooligans. The female Mentranian vikings in the vibrant colourful dressed looked extremely modern in comparison to their fellow Mentranians.

Not a single one wanted to do this, but they had to act like they wanted to, and they had to act patriotic and loyal.

"THREE, TWO, ONE!" the drummer Mentranian yelled.

At that, he began banging the stick down upon the drum as the defender Mentranian stood besides him, looking at the dancing regular Mentranians as they turned around on the spot initially, in their choreographed-looking dance.

"SAVE OUR FATHERRR!" they all sang simultaneously, as they turned around and jumped on the spot in the midst of their dance.

They all started moving around in their circle as their dance continued. A couple of other defenders were monitoring the parade.

These guys were hungry, some even starving, and yet they're being forced to doing this rally/parade. Some of them were freezing cold, to the point they couldn't feel their chests, specifically the women Mentranians in the colourful, silky dresses.

They were all dancing in line with the banging of the drum, in the midst of that hunger and starvation hitting them.

* * *

Rallies and dancing parades, filled with cries of support of Hawkon and the leadership, weren't the only forms of support the regime was forcing its vikings to show. Within the vicinity where the stairs up to the now demolished Great Hall used to be, was a stone statue. A statue of Hawkon's father.

As mentioned in the first few chapters, the Mentranians demolished anything that had relevancy to the Hooligans when they first arrived here a decade ago, before turning the island into their own and gradually building up a brutal regime. They had obviously demolished the Great Hall first, before demolishing the stairs themselves. The first thing that they demolished before anything else were the various statues of Stoick.

Now, they had their own statue of their late leader, literally right in the position the Great Hall stairs started from; behind the rather old-looking statue was the legendary cliff of Berk, or more appropriately now, Mentra.

In light of the war, regular Mentranians, in huge groups, were all forced to come to the statue and bow down directly in front of it. Some of them had to stand still in front of it for a good five minutes, to pay their respects to the efforts of the leadership and the man who founded the regime of Mentra itself.

Tens and tens of Mentranian defenders stood around the statue to guard it. Anyone who makes a disrespectful gesture around it, points to it, laughs whilst near it, or make any absurd statements/movements, will be instantly sent to the isolation camps. Even if the younger children of Mentra come by it by accident and play games, they too will be punished.

In light of Mentra and New Berk being at war, and with Mentra's intent of winning the war and engulfing the whole archipelago to the point it becomes under the entire rule of Hawkon the Second, this was how life on the island now was. Much more harsher than usual, less rights, and as shown, public executions that, whether the Mentranians like it or not, will be forced to witness.

The regime was truly living up to the name occasionally given to it by its opponents; fanatical, brutal, evil, and a cult. And as things stand, unless Hiccup and the Berkians step up, the regime isn't going to change, and rather, it'll expand.


	23. Invasion of Outcast Island

**CHAPTER 23: Invasion of Outcast island**

The sky was nightly. But the Mentranian armada, propped up by the Berserkers, in their dozens and dozens of ships, was sailing straight towards the island of the Outcasts. Each boat had over 10 Mentranians and Berserkers in them.

Guddorn the Second, on the front ship as he, as the leader of the armada, led their direction, stared right towards what looked like to be the island of the Outcasts. It looked like a spiky-looking mountain, and often the Mentranians had wondered how the hell a tribe could live on it, but still, it was too valuable to not invade.

In light of the war, it was time to start engulfing as much of the archipelago as possible, so regardless of the odd geographical structure, Guddorn was intent on leading the armada to victory.

There were only a few clouds in the dark skies as the moon lit up like a giant lamp. The moon light allowed the fifty+ boat strong armada to be seen in the dark swaying seas.

With Alvin the Treacherous no longer here, though, the advantage was firmly in the Mentranians. There was no real leadership for the remaining Outcasts to prevent the incoming attack.

"There it is. Ours to take." Guddorn proudly uttered.

This was an island made entirely of rock, and it lacked any sort of vegetation. It did have the occasional volcanic activity, but still, it was an island that Mentra was keen on bringing under its control. There were no longer any wild dragons nested upon it as well, thankfully. They were gone ages ago.

"Sir, have we got any information on the numbers we're dealing with?" a crossbow defender asked.

"Their leader was apart of the foreigner group who forced us to evacuate from the prisoner bay. He won't be on this island as a result. Their lack of a leader means they won't be anticipating our presence, nor will they be able to stop us."

The two were exchanging a brief conversation of tactics over the sound of the waters briefly making medium sized waves, some of which caused splashes into the boats.

"Once we hit their land, we shall march into their vicinity and take out their men. Our venom will quite easily neutralise them." Guddorn nodded, as he briefly took out a wooden telescope to glare at the upcoming island that resembled nothing but rock.

"Should they resist, our combined forces will overwhelm them, and thus, we shall push inwards and force them to surrender."

Guddorn glared to his left beyond the edges of his boat, gesturing for one half of the armada to make a turn to the left, and he subsequently leaned over the edge of the right side of the boat, gesturing for that half of the armada to sail to the right. On that plan, they'll have circled Outcast Island to the point they could invade it from all fronts.

A couple of Outcasts, wielding their spears, were smelting, using the volcanic heat of the island, a couple of other steel weaponry. Their beards dangled over the weapons as they checked on them. They were able to do the smelting from a position where they had a clear view of the open seas.

The Outcasts were wide vikings, much like the Berserkers.

One of them looked out to the seas, and was able to glare at a formation of boats from the open seas he could see from here; they all appeared to be closing in on the shores.

"Aha, looks like Alvin's back." one of the Outcasts said.

"Aye, it's about time."

"It looks like he's brought back a ton of boats or..something?"

Something, however, didn't feel right about these boats. They looked...threatening, entirely from how they were approaching the island. This side was entirely circled by the boats. The Outcast who was keeping a watch out was starting to doubt whether it was actually Alvin.

At this point, it had been about 20 minutes since Guddorn commanded the armada to split in half to circle Outcast Island, and now, they had at long last touched down on the rocky surface of Outcast Island. Upon hopping off the boats, the Berserkers led the charge. The Mentranians and Berserkers circling the other side were most likely doing the same thing, since it was briefed to them by Guddorn just before they sailed from Mentra to here.

The thunderous, collective noises of Berserker boots hitting the ground from them running had prompted an earthquake-equivalent noise. Now, with Guddorn the Glorious in full control and at the lead of this imminent invasion, it was time for the Mentranians to follow.

"For our father!" Guddorn chanted, militaristic style, charging forwards behind the Berserkers, whereby his fellow Mentranians followed on.

Outcast Island was now being charged upon by hundreds and hundreds, on all sides and fronts, by Berserkers and Mentranians, equipped with venomous crossbows.

The Berserkers and Mentranians quickly covered the shores of Outcast Island in the dark, with their vast numbers and their storming presence.

"This isn't Alvin..." an Outcast viking said, feeling the ground rumble, and threatening yells, "we need to defend..."

"Defend from what?!"

"That..."

The outcast pointed to the open space, where hundreds of hostile looking vikings were charging in on the rocky island from every direction. The remaining outcasts at this point had no alternatives but to fire at them, and to run into the hostiles with their spears.

"This isn't their ordinary attack...this is a full on take over, we must-"

"ATTAACCKKKKKK!" his fellow Outcast viking suddenly yelled, interrupting him, as the Berserkers and Mentranians approached like a pack of predators.

"OPEN YOUR ARROWS, MEN, FIREE!" Guddorn yelled.

The outcasts all leapt from their positions, and they, with their sharpened out, giant spears, charged back at the Berserkers in front, with the spears aimed at them.

The Berserkers and Mentranians were vastly superior in numbers and strength for these remaining Outcasts. As soon as the Outcasts became within a close distance of the Berserkers, venomous arrows were shot directly at them, causing them to instantly collapse as the thunderous roars of the charging Mentranians and Berserkers thickened with every closing distance.

"SON, STAY BACK, THEY'RE COMING IN FROM EVERY CORNER..." Another remaining Outcast said, holding his spear out as he could hear and feel the enemies coming in.

"DAD, I DON'T WANNA DIE...I DON'T WANNA DIE..." the young Outcast sobbed, as the ground continued to shake in earthquake-esque manners.

"RUN AWAY, QUICK, RUN AWAY SON, I'LL HOLD THEM OFF, THERE'S-" A Berserker charged right into the Outcast as he yelled to his son; the Berserker simply knocked him down to the ground as more and more piled upon the vicinity.

They quickly inflicted the fallen Outcast father with another toxic arrow, knocking him out. Within this lot of Berserkers was Guddorn. Dozens and dozens of Mentranians were now here, as the two were closing in on victory on this invasion.

"Get the boy..." Guddorn commanded.

Two Berserkers and one Mentranian, like bulls, began charging for the young Outcast like they had a magnet forcing them towards him. The young lad was leaping up to the highest point of Outcast Island with its rocky terrain, or so he thought he could. He was being caught up with.

He continued to climb up the rocky structures he could reach. The Mentranian refrained from firing at him due to Guddorn commanding they capture him alive. The young boy was breathing like he had sprinted for 10 hours, the fear was that surged.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" the frightened young viking yelled, jumping down from a high rocky point of the island, slipping off of his balance as he landed on a lower down point.

The boy managed to lose those Berserkers and Mentranians, but when he turned to face the area in front of him, even more rocky terrain, his heart ached like it had exploded; hundreds and hundreds of the same types of vikings, marching towards the middle of the island, and the majority of them had sighted down the young Outcast boy.

"GET EMMMMMMMMMMMM!" they all roared, the crowd of Mentranians and Berserkers charging towards the Outcast boy, who looked to return to the point he jumped off of.

Out of nowhere, though, the two Berserkers had leapt off from the high point, finally catching up to the boy, slipping down and grabbing him by his chest, subsequently aggressively pulling him into a carry.

"NO, LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" the Outcast pleaded, as the thick muscles of the Berserkers holding him meant he couldn't even move his chest to breath properly.

There was no response from the Berserker at his plea. The boy, fully exhausted and as shook as somebody who's been through an emotional trauma, began sobbing once again, due to the very real possibility that he may very well be killed at this point.

"RAARGHHHH!" one Outcast viking roared, as he slammed his spear into a couple of Mentranians as he charged, his charging speed being too fast for them to fire their arrows at him.

The Mentranians and Berserkers have practically engulfed three quarters of the island at this point, and the remaining Outcasts were hopeless, including the one engaging in a one versus multiple brawl.

"RAARGHH!" one Berserker roared, as he swung his battleaxe in the air at the Outcast, as the two ducked and ran around each other in their brawling battle of weapons and physicality.

The Outcast aimed his spear up, but before he could stab the Berserker, an arrow was flung into his back, causing him to collapse down like it was nothing, in thanks to the venom.

"MEN, WE'VE DONE IT..." Guddorn proudly declared.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Mentranians and Berserkers collectively roared and chanted, as they all stood in the middle of Outcast Island.

"WE HAVE TAKEN THEIR ISLAND! OUR EXPANSION CANNOT BE STOPPPEDDD!"

As Guddorn chanted in the roaring cheers, the young Outcast boy, who the Berserkers and Mentranians were surprisingly keeping alive for now, was sobbing as he felt his heart ache with genuine pain from the fear of being killed. He was being carried tightly within the grasp of the same Berserker.

The Outcasts that weren't killed by the Berserkers physically, but instead, knocked out by the venomous arrows of the Mentranians, were going to be sent off to the isolation camps for when they wake up. Similarly, the young Outcast boy will be sent to the isolation camps of Mentra as well.

If it wasn't for Alvin and the majority of the Outcast Tribe leaving this island, this invasion wouldn't have been successful. But now, Mentra has successfully engulfed it. Guddorn the Glorious, being the planner and the leader of the invasion, had a morale surge to win the war against the Hooligans, in light of his success in leading this invasion.


	24. Reorganising

**CHAPTER 24: Reorganising**

Hiccup and everyone were under a day away from returning to New Berk, due to it taking a whole week to travel from the edge to Mentra, with it taking a week back and from New Berk to the edge as well.

Their boats had sailed the calm seas in an orderly fashion. The winds weren't as strong. But in the back of Hiccup's mind was a self-loathing, and a cloud of failure, for the fact that he still hasn't managed to find Astrid and save her from the fanatics that're still hopefully keeping her alive.

On the way back to New Berk, Hiccup's had the chance to catch up with Alvin the Treacherous. His Outcast vikings were scattered upon the other boats of the Hooligans as they intended to come back to New Berk with Hiccup to support him in the war.

He and Alvin, with Blavery, were all on the same boat. Hiccup was barely able to maintain a calm mood as the three of them sat on the chairs of the boat, drinking cups of water as they engaged in discussions. His inability to stay calm was down to the fact that Astrid was still out there, in severe trouble.

Luckily for them, the seas being so calm and relaxed meant they didn't need to focus on the sails as much, and the same was true for the other boats.

"So, when did they start attacking your island?" Blavery asked Alvin, as he sipped on the wooden cup of water, with Hiccup sat opposite Alvin.

"Oh, this was fairly recently. Until they started it young lad, we had no idea such a system of life existed. It surprised me when it became clear that Berk had been totally transformed into a different kind of island, led by different people. It's often astonishing. I'd say some weeks ago is when they first started it."

"I've completely forgotten to tell you, Alvin. I used to be a defender in Mentra. So I've got inside knowledge and awareness of their plans."

"You used to be apart of that?" Alvin said, raising his eyebrows.

"If I could take it back, I would. From first hand experience, you feel watched, threatened, and you feel isolated from the real world. As a defender, you have to risk your life for the leader, no questions asked. They were going to kill me before I defected." Blavery said.

"Kill you?"

"Yeah. That overseers party, pretty much the governing body of the island that Hawkon implemented fairly recently, thought I was incompetent. I still dream and have nightmares about being there, and it's something I never want to return to." Blavery shivered, raising his wooden cup up to his face to take a drink.

"So Hiccup, how have you been over these years?" Alvin asked, turning to face Hiccup.

"I...uh...good, I guess."

"It must've been. I just want to say that I'm glad that we're working together on bringing down Hawkon and Mentra. Your father would be proud of you doing this, Hiccup."

"Sorry Alvin, I'm not really focusing on the conversation, I've got anxiety right now..." Hiccup revealed.

It did feel like there was a rock-sized lump in his throat. The reason was obvious.

"I mean, we've just spent about two weeks in total fighting those guys, with the goal of capturing Astrid. She wasn't there. I'm starting to worry that she won't have much longer in their hands."

"It only takes us a week when we're going to the edge, Hiccup. It takes a week to get there from Mentra as well. Mentra itself is only about a day, give or take, from your home island, we won't be spending weeks travelling again." Blavery said, wanting to reassure the Chieftan.

"My point is that we've let them get away with possibly...so much in those two weeks. They've still got Astrid, who knows how long she has left to live before they do anything to her? I've managed to hold myself back from crying, but at this point I'm going to give in. I just want Astrid back..." Hiccup softly revealed, looking down at the floor as he held his cup low.

"What about the dragons, Hiccup?" Alvin the Treacherous asked, "why don't you use Toothless? we wouldn't have spent these weeks travelling to the edge and back, it'd have taken your entire tribe a day with the dragons?"

"They left for The Hidden World ten years ago, Alvin...it's hopeless. Despite the fact Toothless and the Light Fury-"

"Light Fury?" Alvin asked, "is that...a different type of Night Fury, son?"

"It is. She and Toothless visited us on the seas near the entrance of The Hidden World. But as I was saying, despite the fact that we got to see them for the first time in years, they're back in The Hidden World now, they'll never come back out. It's just...hopeless, and now, with Astrid still in dangerous hands, I always dream at night of having Toothless and the dragons be back...to comfort me as my best bud, just..."

Hiccup rubbed his eyes as tears began generating. The dragons will never come back out from The Hidden World, which is unfortunate, because if they were still here with the Berkians to this day, they'd have easily helped their vikings overpower the Mentranians, thus ending the war quickly, and saving Astrid.

This whole conflict was much more difficult, and the Mentranians, propped up by the resurgent Berserkers, were much more powerful, both problems rampant because the dragons weren't here anymore. Hiccup genuinely wanted Toothless back.

"This Hidden...World as you speak of, Hiccup...boy, couldn't you just enter it yourself, or ourselves, and get the dragons back?"

"It's not as easy as it sounds, Alvin, it's like this underwater volcano, that leads into boiling caves..it...it's a giant place, it's filled with wild dragons, and without a dragon anyways it's impossible for us to go into it."

Alvin the Treacherous genuinely was taken aback at the revelation, in his perspective, of a 'Hidden World' of dragons, and also the revelation that there was now a Light Fury. He wasn't around during the events of Grimmel and Drago, after all.

"Can we please...just move on from this topic? the more we talk about it, the more I fear for Astrid, and the more I miss Tooth-" Hiccup simply collapsed into a waterfall of tears, practically speaking.

Blavery stood up and gently walked over to Hiccup, kneeling down. He placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Hiccup. I absolutely assure you, like I did back at the bay...we will rescue your wife." Blavery said, genuinely feeling a close companionship with Hiccup.

Hiccup looked at Blavery, with tearful eyes. His cheeks were practically shiny, he was crying that much. Alvin the Treacherous subsequently stood up and walked over to Hiccup.

"And no matter what, Hiccup son, you'll always have the support of myself and my men, to bring down this rogue regime that's formed on Berk..and to rescue Astrid. Whatever differences we may have had when you were a young boy, they're all gone as far as I'm concerned. We'll be working together through and through to achieve victory."

Hiccup felt weak. He rubbed his whole face, including his beard, before looking at the both of them, as the boat swayed gently over the sea water.

"Thanks guys...it's...I.." Hiccup began glaring in an open direction, where his expression froze.

Alvin and Blavery could see that Hiccup was thinking. They could just tell from the face. And given his emotional state, they were more than willing to wait for him.

He continued to stare...like he was contemplating something in the midst of his tear-covered eyes. His mouth was closed, and slowly but surely his general face turned solemn as he glared.

"Uh, Alvin is it? myself and Hiccup created a plan to take down Mentra's leadership figures, one by one. It'll cause instability with Hawkon's leadership, due to the hard line defenders seeing him as weak and incompetent, for letting his top guys get killed. I'm just not sure how viable it'll be now, given how Hiccup's currently feeling."

"We'll do it..." Hiccup said, breaking his silence, and wiping his eyes again.

"We will?" Alvin said, curiously wondering what the entirety of this plan was.

"Yeah. I'm sick of crying and feeling down all the time. That's what Hawkon would want of us, and me. We're gonna destroy his regime and then we're going to save Astrid." Hiccup declared, getting a surge of confidence.

"That's the spirit, Hiccup, that's the spirit." Blavery said.

Hiccup knew the war had to go on if it meant ending Hawkon's rogue regime on Old Berk, and if it meant saving Astrid.

"But I just feel like...at this point, our actions on dragon's edge, forcing them to retreat, hasn't actually meant anything...Astrid wasn't there.."

"But it's started up our process, you see. Hawkon's cult of personality portrays him as a god, who's never defeated. If his defenders acknowledge that Mentra had to retreat from a land that they intended to take over, it'll damage his credibility. It's nowhere near enough at the moment, but it's a start." Blavery said.

"And here's the good news. We won't need to go to the edge again as a result of us pushing them back from it. That means that we won't need to spend anymore weeks sailing. Mentra is only a day, give or take, away from New Berk, so we can easily resume our strike at them without wasting time."

That assured Hiccup entirely. Travelling to dragon's edge back and forth has taken them two weeks, one week for each trip, which was far too much time wasted. But ultimately, as Blavery said just now, they had forced the Mentranians to retreat from the edge, so it was technically worth it.

"Alright. Once we get back to our island, Alvin, you and your men can come up with us, we have a contraption due to how high up it is."

Alvin the Treacherous nodded.

"And we'll need to fill him in on our plan, Blave. And then possibly reorganise."

Blavery nodded.

* * *

It's been a couple of days later. Hiccup had caught up with his mum, Gobber, and Zephyr and Nuffink, in which they were all genuinely relieved to see Hiccup after being gone for 2 weeks. Alvin got to meet Valka, and was generally finding his stride on New Berk. The island was so gigantic and big that all of the outcast vikings were able to make it their home without any issues, to the acceptance of Hiccup.

But now, it was time to reorganise. Alvin the Treacherous, Hiccup, and Blavery Borhid were all sat inside Hiccup's hut, with Zephyr and Nuffink playing in the corner of the room as Valka and Gobber remained sat with them.

"The Mentranians won't stay quiet, you guys," Alvin said, "they've attacked my island on a consistent basis whilst we were still there, so I know. Hopefully though my men who're still on the island have held them off."

"This war isn't about them wanting to take over the entirety of that archipelago, if I'm correct in thinking. So apart from the occasional attacks, your island should be fine. Just to fill you in on how this whole thing started as well, Alvin, Hiccup's vikings had put a halt to Mentra's dragon deterrent program. After that, Mentra's and Hawkon's declaration of war became very clear."

Blavery had no idea; it was like he said, the regime tends to keep secrets from its own defenders, and that was the case now. Mentra's intention with this war _was, _contrary to what Blavery said just now, to end up with the whole archipelago under its control, as well as New Berk, and pretty much any island that had foreign tribes on it. Mega Mentra was what it was going for.

"I need to just...vent off really quick, gentlemen." Alvin said, "I've known about Mentra since it first started attacking my island and my men, but why is it...so...rogue? and like this? I've never heard of anything like it...we were getting so many stories of how the vikings living on it are treated..it's just...shocking, really."

"Hiccup, we touched on this when you took me to this island after you saved me. Do you remember what I said?" Blavery asked.

Valka and Gobber were keeping Zephyr and Nuffink distracted, so they didn't hear the discussions going on around the table in the room. Hiccup didn't want his two children overhearing anything in regards to the war. Meanwhile, Valka and Gobber were both keeping a keen ear on the conversation whilst tending to Zephyr and Nuffink.

"I..-"

"No worries. I won't put the burden on you to explain it, Hiccup. Given your circumstances with Astrid, it's probably for the better if I tell him."

Alvin the Treacherous was genuinely curious; how did Old Berk morph into 'Mentra'? was the question roaming in his head, as well as why it's such a rogue and mercilessly-ran place, and he was about to get the answer.

"The leadership of Mentra, dating back to the times Grimmel was alive, with Drago, were victims of imprisonment. Specifically, Hawkon's father and Hawkon himself were prisoners of Grimmel. Hawkon was 10 at the time, so this was pretty much a decade ago exactly. When Grimmel was killed, Hawkon's father staged a resistance against the remainder of Grimmel's men. They overran Grimmel's men and pretty much liberated themselves. Afterwards, they took all of the equipment at the base, before swimming away, which is how they found Old Berk. They swam to it. You need to understand Hawkon's background when it comes to his fanatical behaviour."

"He's 20 years old? only?" Alvin asked, genuinely shocked at hearing that the leader of the rogue regime was supposedly that young.

"Yeah. And this all ties into why Mentra's what it is today. Hiccup, we've heard them say stuff along the lines of 'all outsider tribes are our enemies, and are wanting to continue the work of Drago and Grimmel', haven't we? By being a rogue and merciless regime, they believe that they're ensuring nothing like Grimmel or Drago ever happens again, and if they were to ever seek to take over the archipelago, it'd be because of that again. The personal experiences of Hawkon and his father are why Mentra's what it is."

"Hold on a minute...so...they're on your side? if they're against Drago and Grimmel and still are?" Alvin said.

"That's exactly what I thought, Alvin, I thought I could just negotiate with em to get Astrid..." Hiccup said.

"But it goes back to them seeing every other tribe, apart from the Berserkers obviously, who they're in a pact with, as their enemy. The leadership's personal experiences of imprisonment at the hands of Grimmel and Drago are why they're completely closed off to any outside tribes. They see them as continuations as Grimmel and Drago. So whilst Mentra and ourselves have the same views of Drago and Grimmel and their actions, Mentra views us as their enemy because of the above. They won't negotiate with their enemies."

"To think...had we, when we were saving caged dragons from those warlords shortly before Toothless came across that Light Fury in the woods, saved Hawkon and his dad from Grimmel's imprisonment..none of this would've happened." Hiccup said, "but still, their past doesn't excuse them holding my wife hostage, nor committing the acts they've done. I intend on treating them as the same calibre as Drago and Grimmel for what they've done thus far, especially Hawkon."

"Alright, Alvin, now you know why Mentra's what it is, we need to talk about the plan and summarise it up..."

"You've got it, boy.." Alvin said, fully understanding the background of Mentra's leadership now.

He was by no means sympathetic to it due to Hawkon and his leadership team being despots at the head of a merciless regime, but more so intrigued. Drago and Grimmel created such a backlash and emotional trauma with those people who'd go on to become 'Mentranians', that it's led to them becoming just like the two. Drago and Grimmel pretty much made Mentra an inevitable formation.

"Four names. Guddorn the Glorious, Fludgeon the Feared, Gustav Larson, and obviously, Hawkon the Second himself. We need to come up, ideally quickly, about how we're going to get to these prominent vikings...they'll be well defended with barricades and hundreds of Mentranians and Berserkers due to their positions in the regime." Blavery stated.

"What about Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"I think I know what we can do to save her, as well, Hiccup..."

The discussions started. Gobber and Valka were still keeping Zephyr and Nuffink distracted from overhearing the discussions.

It was time for Hiccup, in his surge of motivation to defeat Hawkon's regime, to reorganise the plan with Blavery and Alvin. But he wanted to reorganise fast, because he wanted to rescue Astrid first and foremost.


	25. Reclaiming the edge

**CHAPTER 25: Reclaiming the edge**

Guddorn was back in Hawkon's presence, the two in a secretive location within Mentra. With the regime's surge of strength enabling it to fully capture and invade Outcast Island, Hawkon was set to give the leader of Mentra's armada his next command.

"The war thus far has been rather easy, sir Hawkon. Our invasion of Outcast Island was as smooth as it could've gone. No Hooligans. The outcast leader wasn't there, meaning they didn't have the leadership or the force to counter our charging presence. As we speak, our defenders and our allies in the Berserkers are fully occupying the island, for when we win this war and become the ruling body of this archipelago."

"Splendid words, Guddorn." Hawkon said, praising Guddorn for his leadership skills of the armada.

"We're expanding, and this war gives us the perfect excuse to continue our expansion, as you will know. But so far, our defenders have been met with relatively little resistance. It's got a vibe of phoniness to it." Guddorn replied.

"That phoniness gives us the head start we need," Hawkon said, "our grand plan includes us forcing the Hooligans to do full battle with us, under the extreme confidence we will come out on top when that final battle happens. But it's going to be beneficial for us and our intentions after this war if it remains a phoney war for now, as you seem to imply it being at the moment."

Guddorn nodded.

"But at the same time, as I've said already, we will need to keep the Hooligans in their place until that final battle for their island happens, which is why, at some point, the armada, led by you, will be sailing to their island to get them to strike, to get a feeling of their strength, but to also keep them distracted whilst our vikings construct the gear and catapults we will be using for our grand plan."

"Absolutely, sir." Guddorn saluted.

"Over these passing weeks, construction has been relatively smooth. Our Berserker allies joining in has allowed us to double our building rate. And with us occupying Outcast Island and eventually what's remaining within the archipelago, we're gradually gaining more and more strength to be able to counter an unexpected Hooligan attack, should it happen." Hawkon proudly declared.

"I'm just wondering, sir, what will become of our ability to keep food supplies going all over the archipelago for the defenders when we occupy the majority of it eventually?"

"Our strength thus far indicates our supplies will be just fine, Guddorn. The fishermen have been catching cod and trout at double the rate they're usually expected to, their work ethic, which is to be admired greatly, means we will have no trouble with that."

Guddorn once again nodded.

"The Berserkers are going to be doing patrols on the seas throughout this whole war, however long we must fight it to win. We must expand our militaristic numbers not just to on-land vicinity, but on the waters. And speaking of the seas, Guddorn, you will recall the prisoner bay?"

"Aye sir." Guddorn said.

"It is a piece of land that we must reclaim into our hands, and we must occupy it in the manner we are in Outcast Island. The week long journey from our island to what the Hooligans would strangely call the 'dragon's edge' has been shown to be survivable with the supplies we have. You will, therefore, be leading our new armada towards the prisoner bay, and once you make land fall, you will recapture it with whatever force is necessary. I've let the situation of our defenders having to evacuate from it due to initial Hooligan force go. With our new found strength, there will be no room for failure." Hawkon declared.

"Sir, we managed to take over Outcast Island and we're occupying it for when it becomes engulfed into our sovereignty, we will be able to do the same with the prisoner bay. I will ensure that we reclaim it and that we dispose of any foreigners that happen to be in our path."

Hawkon nodded. The despot Mentranian leader saw competence in Guddorn, and that meant Guddorn's life was safe.

* * *

Another 7 days had passed, and the new Mentranian armada had finally arrived at the edge, with Guddorn leading the way once again.

The war has once again been relatively quiet, from the Hooligan side. But that was still hugely beneficial for the Mentranians, in that it's allowing them to carry out their invasions across the archipelago with little to no resistance, and once they tighten their grip on these captured lands, it'll be much harder for the Hooligans to take them back in a battle.

The armada sailed towards the village with wariness, but also under the assumption that the Hooligans and the 'enemies' that initially attacked them and forced them to evacuate from it were no longer here.

Guddorn kept a firm eye out using his wooden telescope. The armada leader looked back at the huge collection of boats, filled with Berserkers and Mentranians, upon studying the outlines of the battered, destroyed village of the former Dragon's Edge.

"Clear so far, men. Keep our sails in line with the wind so we approach the bay quicker." Guddorn commanded to the two Mentranians on his boat.

The armada sailed closer. The land pillars surrounding the fronts of the edge, the battered, empty structures of the somewhat over-water village had prompted a bit more confidence in them. There genuinely seemed to be nobody living within this place.

"No signs of activity, sir." a face-covered Mentranian stated to Guddorn.

"That's what they'd want us to think."

"If they were still upon our prisoner bay they'd have attacked us from the hills by now."

"Stealthiness is a trap for us. For all we know, they could be hiding in those structures, no matter how comforting it is for us to get this close without any response." Guddorn insisted.

The rope held wooden spiral staircase in the middle of the edge became much more visible, as Guddorn's boat, followed by the strong Mentranian armada behind him, emerged closer. The spiral staircase was surprisingly intact despite the thunderous battle that this place hosted when the Hooligans attacked fairly recently.

"Let's make landfall then, gentlemen. In order to ensure there's no enemy activity, we ought to kick down the doors of all of these structures and ensure they're empty. You are to join me in clearing out the entire bay before we can consider it safe and empty. I shall gesture for our armada to follow our landfall intentions."

"Aye, Guddorn sir."

Guddorn walked to the back of his boat, behind the wooden pole holding the sails, and waved at the 30-40+ boat strong armada of Mentranians and Berserkers. He then made a pointing gesture towards the rather steep shores that had lime-green looking grass.

"PILE ONTO THE LAND WHILST WE CLEAR IT OUT!" Guddorn yelled, his voice echoing like an intimidating, violent figure with his deep voice roaring into the air.

The entire armada, which had included the same amount of Mentranians and Berserkers as the one that invaded Outcast Island, had finally made landfall, with the vikings walking up the steep shores, crossbows aimed out as they remained ducked down. Guddorn and two other Mentranians were the only ones in the actual village of the edge, where they were going to the various huts to kick their doors down, and then to rush inside and attack anybody that may still be inside them from the recent battle with the Hooligans.

Guddorn held onto the wooden knob of a half collapsed hut that they used as a storage of prisoners before the Hooligans attacked. The two Mentranians knelt down on either side of the door in order to speed up their rush inside as soon as the door gets pelted open.

Guddorn adjusted the knob.

"On three, wield your crossbows and fire away at anyone that's inside."

Guddorn took a few steps back and began counting down very rapidly.

"One...two..." Guddorn slammed his boot viciously into the door, thundering it open like a hurricane had opened it with strong winds, "THREE!"

The two Mentranians stormed in with their venom-equipped crossbows, but there was nothing inside. All there was was pure blackness. It felt like they could hear haunting ambiences from just how dead the inside was.

"Hut clear, sir."

"Good. There's only a couple more we'll need to check before we can fully confirm that there's no enemies hanging about." Guddorn nodded, praising the agility of the two Mentranians for how fast they leapt into the hut.

About twenty minutes later, the entire edge was once again populated by huge numbers of Berserkers and Mentranians. It was once again a Mentranian-held base.

Guddorn was talking in a small group of higher-up Mentranians for this particular mission. Specifically, the captains of the armada.

"Gentlemen, we cannot let another attack happen here."

"That is why we're going to have thorough patrols over this particular island, through the woods, for any foreigners. We will ensure the watch tower at the top is utilised as well."

"This is particularly important because we will need to eventually sail towards the home island of the Hooligans, as a 'baiting' method, to get a test of their might and strength. Plus, it'll distract them from attempting to come back here, or generally anywhere on the archipelago." Guddorn insisted.

"As we're a week away from Mentra, our supply chain can only last us for so long."

"Father Hawkon is working on giving the Berserkers that duty, of transferring supplies to this place so our occupation can hold up, and on top of that, he's looking to send even more of our defenders here to have a stronger retaliation should an attack by the Hooligans happen again."

The armada captains nodded with Guddorn, who held the top authority of the entire armada, even above the captains themselves.

The Dragon's Edge, or 'prisoner bay' as the Mentranians call it, is once again under Mentranian occupation, and this time, under a much stronger one.

* * *

Yet another week had passed. So many weeks were passing, but it was because of the trips being made to the edge and back. It was a week away from Mentra, as it was for New Berk.

In this case, Guddorn, in light of having the edge fully occupied by the defenders of Mentra in stronger numbers and capabilities, sailed back to Mentra to be instructed on the next task; sailing towards the home land of the Hooligans.

"Guddorn, you have so far impressed me. Our defenders currently hold both the Outcast Island and the prisoner's bay. You are a mighty asset in this war. We still have tons more of the archipelago to engulf and take over, but as of now, we're in an advantage to win this war." Hawkon said, applauding Guddorn for his ability to lead two armadas to two successful invasions of different areas.

Gustav Larson, the second in command, was stood alongside Hawkon this time. He stood alongside Hawkon like one of Hawkon's adviser vikings.

The second-in-command, having cult status in the regime amongst the regulars like Hawkon, and obviously, holding powers very similarly to the levels of Hawkon, was discussing the war with him in various meetings, for Hawkon wanted to eventually assign Gustav his own operation to contribute to the war effort.

"A week or two ago, you'll recall me stating our intention to test the strength of the Hooligans, and to also keep them distracted from what we're doing in the archipelago surrounding The Viking's Mentra. That will be your new set goal. You, leading our armada once again, will sail towards the home island of the Hooligans to not only distract them and test their strength, but to also potentially make them use up whatever resources of weaponry they have left to attack us with, so they'll have less and less gear to counter our grand plan and our REAL attack."

"There will be no hesitance from me on this, sir Hawkon."

"I very much hope there won't be any, Guddorn. You know of my past, as does our father. I want you to ensure they waste absolutely everything they've got left on you, so we can ruin them when the time comes." Gustav interrupted, "it'll be especially satisfying for me to see Hiccup, Eret, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and the other lot they've got going on, contribute to their own downfall."

Gustav's past with Hiccup & co and that particular incident involving a disagreement with Hiccup letting the dragons go was still rampant in his head. Being banished still fuels his desire for revenge, and as apart of this regime, being the second most influential figure in it for the duration of the regime's existence, and now, with this war, Gustav easily had the opportunity to strike at Hiccup and the rest of them.

"Gustav sir, I concur with your statement. Our defenders will fend off the Hooligans whilst we ensure they're distracted and held back from interfering in our archipelago plans." Guddorn said, talking to Gustav with the same respect he uses for Hawkon, which is appropriate, given Guddorn's basically got the same god-like status in the Mentranian cult of personality as Hawkon.

"No longer will you be spending a week on the seas to travel to lands. New Berk is basically just a full day away from our island, getting to them and striking at them will be a fast and smooth process." Gustav Larson added.

The three important figures of the regime nodded in agreement at each other. Fludgeon wasn't here because he was rounding up the Berserkers to ready them for the next phase of Hawkon's plans with the archipelago.

The Hooligans had a real problem on their hands. Either they strike now, as they haven't for weeks, or they let the archipelago become engulfed into Mega Mentra, and subsequently, allow themselves to become at risk of a Mega Mentra attack on New Berk itself. The clock was ticking. Hiccup & co just wasted two weeks, despite talking about reorganising in the last chapter, they can't keep affording to do that.


	26. Guddorn's journey

**CHAPTER 26: Guddorn's journey**

Guddorn, once again at the head of the armada, (which was significantly smaller compared to the numbers used to reclaim the edge and invade Outcast Island due to this particular mission being one where they simply wanted to distract the Hooligans and test their might, not expecting an actual battle), was casting his wooden telescope into the vast seas as the ten boats, forming a mini armada of some sorts, sailed their way over the seaweed scented waters to New Berk.

Guddorn had a bit of a tingle in himself, somewhat like an excitement. As Hawkon's right hand Mentranian viking, which is quite clearly what he is at this point, this mission meant more than the others to him. He was pretty much the one Mentra was now relying on, so they could gather knowledge about the might of the Hooligans and just what Hiccup's vikings can do, adapting their grand plan in the process using that information.

All of that was down to Guddorn's competence hopefully leading to yet another successful mission, whereby they lure the Hooligans to attack before the smaller Mentranian armada retreats. The Mentranians had quite a bit of confidence in themselves, due to the Hooligans being totally silent for about 95% of this war so far, apart of course from that attack the Hooligans executed upon the edge.

But that error was now irrelevant to Hawkon and his regime, because they've reclaimed the edge, and are occupying it with more numbers and strength than ever, similarly to the strength they have on their occupation of Outcast Island.

It'll be the first time that the Mentranians will have sailed to the home island of the Hooligans, a significant signal that this war was only going to get more and more severe later on down the road.

There were some Berserkers in the armada with the Mentranians too, so they could effectively be a back up should this mission go wrong. The Mentranians knew they had the advantage over the Hooligans with the venomous dipped arrows, but the Berserkers, as pact vikings to Mentra, were always essential in propping up the regime in anything it partakes in, and this war was no exception.

"Any signs, so far sir?" one Mentranian interrogated to Guddorn.

Guddorn took out his wooden telescope again, as he placed it against his left eye to glare right into the distance. So far, New Berk wasn't in their sight, and to be realistic, it probably won't be, until the end of the day at least, when they've travelled the known amount of time to it from Mentra.

"Not yet, not yet." Guddorn said, slowly placing his wooden telescope back down.

"Hiccup, their so-called Chief, has been awfully quiet over these weeks, sir, so the father's command should be fulfilled rather easily, with no problems." the loyal Mentranian viking uttered, glaring out to the seas as the rest of the armada travelled calmly on the seaweed-scented waters.

Some of the boats had water in them, but to no problems for the Berserker and Mentranian vikings.

"We are sailing into unknown waters here. It's best for us to not get complacent. Our intended objective is to distract the Hooligans with attacking us, to the point they waste their weaponry. The plan our father has for the final battle is tremendously planned out, and it'll be one the one-legged bane will find impossible to counter." Guddorn proudly said, looking out to the empty seas in front.

"Are our men going to circle the island once we get to it, splitting up into little groups of our boats?" the Mentranian asked, placing his helmet and his crossbow to the wooden chairs.

"No. We are going to sail the island together. If we split up, we are putting ourselves at the risk of an embarrassing defeat, whereby none of us may return home. We cannot let the father down in this crucial time." Guddorn replied, once again keeping his eyes out to the open seas ahead.

"Just out of curiosity sir, what is the grand plan?"

"Totally classified at this point. The father has advised me to keep it on the low down until the time comes." Guddorn replied, staying at the front of his boat to glare out at the empty seas.

The plan for this mission was for Guddorn's significantly smaller armada to sail into a sighting distance of New Berk, hopefully picking up the attention of the Hooligans when they see the boats. The plan will then involve the Mentranians and Berserkers exchanging attacks via their arrows against the Hooligans over the seas, if it has to come to that. The final plan Mentra has planned will involve the _real_ battle for New Berk. This is merely just a distraction technique, not only designed for just that, but for also getting a geographical sense, in terms of the formation, of New Berk.

"However, one part of the plan I can reveal to you is this..." Guddorn said, turning to the Mentranian stood besides him as he too kept his eyes out on the seas.

The Mentranian had a firm ear listening in towards his commander's direction.

"The final aspects of it call for 'Operation Catafly', whereby we, using our currently in progress wing-suits, with the help of our Berserker allies, will catapult our defenders in those wing suits up into the air, flying and gliding straight up into New Berk, and we will be doing this in our largest numbers, numbers that'll be the biggest we'll ever utilise in this war." Guddorn revealed.

"A very ambitious plan, sir...I just wonder how it'll come to that." the Mentranian shrugged.

"That part of the plan, how we'll come to Operation Catafly, is one I cannot reveal, as you already know." Guddorn quite firmly stated, having a quick glare at the Mentranian before looking back at the seas.

The Mentranian armada was on route to New Berk, albeit it wasn't the entirety of Mentra's surprisingly resilient and strong defender force. With the Hooligans being relatively quiet over these weeks, as mentioned above, it was no surprise that the Mentranians had a bunch of confidence in this plan working out.

And this was also, secretly, a preparation mission for the final plan on Mentra's behalf. It's been revealed that an operation known as 'Catafly' is in the grand plan, but what is the part of it that leads up to that operation? in this war, the Hooligans will find out sooner or later.

For now, they're about to get a Mentranian visit from the seas.


	27. Mentranian visit

**CHAPTER 27: Mentranian visit**

Hiccup, Blavery Borhid, Eret, Valka, Gobber, Alvin, and Zephyr with Nuffink were all inside, situated within the house. Over this week and the previous, the morale of Hiccup had fell significantly. Despite giving a valiant determination verbally to come out on top and conquer his anxiety due to Astrid, and the whole situation with the Mentranian regime on Old Berk, Hiccup had caved in to his feelings.

That was why he hasn't been out on the seas, with the Hooligans, to stop the advancements the Mentranians have made, and are currently making (not known to the Hooligans obviously), on the barbaric archipelago. He just couldn't cope with the anxiety that was running laps in his head.

Whenever Alvin had offered to take his men out to the seas to counter the Mentranians, Hiccup had pleaded with him every time not to do so, again due to the Chieftan's anxiety.

Blavery Borhid, Alvin himself, Valka, and Gobber had all been trying to rally up Hiccup to get back out onto the seas to do battle in this ongoing war against the regime on Old Berk. But it never worked. His anxieties dominated him.

Now if Astrid was safely here, Hiccup wouldn't have a problem at all with going out to the seas to do constant battle with the Mentranians. Whenever he spoke to Zephyr and Nuffink, the idea of them no longer having a mum had came up every time to him, and that also contributed to his anxiety.

Hiccup was no longer wearing his Toothless wing suit, he was that damaged by the anxiety. He could no longer get into the mindset of leading the New Berkians into the war against the Mentranians.

"We've reiterated this on so many occasions to you, Hiccup, they'll be keeping her alive..." Blavery insisted, as he rested both his palms on the table Hiccup was sat at, as the legendary Chieftan held his forehead against his own two palms, his elbows planted onto the table.

"With all due respect buddy, how would you know for sure? it's not as if we've been on Mentra or whatever they're calling the old island nowadays, and because we haven't, we have no concrete knowledge of that?" Eret asked.

"Trust me, I know the Mentranians. They may be unpredictable to everyone in this room, and to everyone on this island of New Berk, but I know them. I used to be in the defence force. They won't rid themselves of the biggest bargaining chip against your tribe that they'll ever have." Blavery insisted, acknowledging that Hiccup's two children vikings were in the room, meaning he kept his tone down to a softer level.

"And something else I've been meaning to ask, why is it called 'Mentra', and why are they called 'Mentranians'? they aren't a different tribe entirely, surely?" Eret asked, as he sat down in the corner of the hut, pretty much out of the way of everyone else.

"I was meant to tell Hiccup here about where the name came from, quite a while ago actually. Basically, when those guys swam to Old Berk after they had rebelled against Grimmel's men after Grimmel was killed, I remember this fairly well...they'd always use the word 'mantra' amongst each other. That word basically meant repeating slogans to keep motivated, and in this case, it was to keep themselves motivated with their task at the time." Blavery said, continuing on.

"Eventually, when they came to the agreement of building up what would become the regime that's there today, they took an awareness of the fact that they used mantras very often to achieve their goals on the island, and one of them slipped and said 'Mentra'. It stuck, and Hawkon's father at the time thought it not only sounded serious and dignified, but that it'd be an island name that'd you instantly be able to recognise as having a similarity to the word of mantra. That's what I remember."

"So that's why they're called Mentranians?" Eret asked.

"Precisely. They're basically the same vikings from within that archipelago, they've just renamed themselves in light of the regime that's on your old island nowadays." Blavery nodded.

"And uh, a whole new ideology and view on outside tribes of course."

"On behalf of my son, I just want to thank you very much for doing this, Blavery.." Valka said, walking up to him, "at this time of crisis we need all the help we can get, and at the moment, Hiccup's struggling to cope...you being here to help us is something we'll never take for granted. If Cloudjumper was here you'd be the first one to get to meet him." Valka nodded, offering her hand out to Blavery to shake it.

Blavery nodded with a smile; it felt good to acknowledge that the Hooligans were emotionally grateful, from what Blavery could tell, of him contributing to their efforts against the regime he was once apart of. Valka and Blavery both shook hands.

"It's nothing, honestly. I just want to destroy it like you guys do. And uh...I dunno who Cloudjumper is, but he sounds very...uh...serious, does he really jump the clouds?"

"Haha.." Valka chuckled, "you'll soon see one day, should he and the other dragons ever come back."

"Oh, he's a dragon? wow...I guess one day I'll feel inclined to do so, then, haha." Blavery chuckled.

"Hiccup..." Alvin the Treacherous said, knelt besides Hiccup as the Chieftan refused to look anywhere else but the table, "we have to do something eventually...otherwise, my boy, they might win...it's like I said, you have the backing of my men, together, those guys don't stand a chance..."

Nuffink and Zephyr gently walked their way through everyone, to get to their dad as he sat down on the chair depressingly, with his forehead held by both hands. Gobber didn't mean to let them go, but it was too late now.

"D-Dad?" Zephyr softly asked, her voice causing Hiccup to ever so slightly lean towards her direction, "please do this..." she pleaded.

Hiccup, for the first time in ages, looked up from the table to face his daughter, and his son, as everyone gave the two children their space to talk to their dad. Alvin stepped back, Blavery stepped back, as did Valka. Basically, everyone stepped back.

"Yeah...we have to get mum back..." Nuffink said, "me and Zephyr really miss her..." he added, in a calm, almost whisper like tone.

Hiccup glared at his two children with affection. Just hearing their voices had given him a reason to respond in some form. But he just couldn't look at them without that same touch of guilt he's felt within his anxiety over these passing weeks. He felt like it was his fault that Astrid wasn't here, leading to him feeling even more guilty for his children.

The whole hut was silent for a moment, as Zephyr and Nuffink both held onto their dad as he remained sat down. His long beard was in the full view of everyone, but he still wasn't talking. He felt incredibly guilty still.

He slowly stood up, moving the chair outwards before doing so, and there wasn't a verbal response from him at all. Instead, he simply made his way towards the door of the hut, and walked out of the front door. The guilt meant he couldn't just sit there any longer and make his kids plead to him to bring their mum back...those poor children, he thought. He couldn't cope.

"Hiccup?!" Alvin said.

"Son?!" Valka said, instantly following Hiccup outside, as did everyone else, including Blavery, Eret, Gobber, and Zephyr and Nuffink.

Where was Hiccup going? as everyone stepped outside to follow Hiccup through the village, it was mildly dark, as the day reached its end.

* * *

"There she is." Guddorn said to himself, as he sighted through his wooden telescope the giant, tall structure of New Berk.

"Sir, shall we encourage the men to stay on course with us?" a Mentranian captain asked Guddorn, as Hawkon's right hand viking in Guddorn studied the island's structure.

"Yes. We have to go in as one for this mission. The Hooligans will either notice us and send out their best to waste their efforts on us as we want, or they'll do nothing and they'll allow us to gather some geographical knowledge of their home island."

Guddorn tucked away his telescope, as the armada behind his boat, consisting of Berserkers and Mentranians, sailed slowly and calmly. It had taken them nearly the whole day from Mentra, but at long last, they had arrived at New Berk.

"This is a very wide island, isn't it, sir?" the Mentranian captain said, as he caught a sight of the island as they neared it on the calm, slow seas of the night.

"The wideness won't counter our grand plan in the slightest. The father long ago commissioned the construction of wing suits and catapults for Operation Catafly, with that construction still ongoing. We've arrived at the perfect time as well, just as the sun starts to settle." Guddorn replied.

New Berk looked like a giant floating asteroid in the middle of the seas, it was that large and structured similarly. The Mentranian armada, albeit smaller than the ones used for Outcast Island and the edge, sailed closer and closer to the island. Even if the Hooligans don't send out their efforts tonight, it'll be a win win for the Mentranians, because they'll have a physical knowledge of what they'll be dealing with when the time comes to invade it.

* * *

"Son?!" Valka said, as she found Hiccup standing at the edge of New Berk, totally overlooking the ocean and the open seas ahead, which looked tiny due to how high up they were.

Everyone else eventually caught up with Valka and Hiccup. Blavery and Gobber both walked up with Valka towards Hiccup, as did Alvin. The hilly, steep forests of New Berk were plainly behind them all as the sky began turning dark.

"Hiccup?" Blavery asked.

"I think we ought to give him some space...take a step back slowly, guys..." Gobber stated.

Valka walked up to Hiccup and planted a palm over his shoulder. Whilst everyone else stood behind, Valka spoke to Hiccup in the calmest way she could.

"Son...we know it's hard...and Astrid's out there...but you heard Zeph and Nuffink. They don't mind you going out whenever you need to, to bring her back..."

"I...I just...I dunno what to feel, mum...those poor kids are missing Astrid, and I feel like it's all my fault..." Hiccup said, speaking up at long last.

"Don't say that, Hiccup. None of us knew that something had happened on the old island prior. It's absolutely not your fault, and saying it is only damages your self-esteem and your confidence, two things that we'll need above everything else at a time of this calibre."

Hiccup felt physically weak, like liquid.

"Dad?" Zephyr said, as she and Nuffink walked up to their dad from the side.

Hiccup looked at Zephyr besides himself.

"We really...want you to go out and save mum...it's not your fault..." she said.

"Yeah, it's not your fault. You can stay out for a year if you need to, if mum can be saved like that.." Nuffink adorably uttered.

"We love you."

The two of them wanted to assure their dad they absolutely weren't blaming him for all of this happening. They knew their mum was in danger, and they knew that their dad needed to go out onto the seas to battle 'bad vikings' as they saw it, in order to rescue their mum. They walked into their dad and raised their arms out, hugging him, as Hiccup couldn't resist the hug. He knelt down and placed his arms around them as the three engaged in a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry for this..." Hiccup whispered to them.

"Don't be...we'll always love you, dad. Go out and save mum..." Zephyr softly said, as she had her head on her dad's shoulder.

Blavery Borhid placed his hand on his chest at the sight. It touched him emotionally, to see Hiccup hug his children in the current circumstances. What a respectable figure Hiccup was, Blavery thought.

Hiccup's anxiety was still there, but he felt like he finally had the assurance that he needed from his children.

Blavery Borhid casted his eyes to the tiny seas down below, the seas looking tiny due to how high up New Berk was. But the height wasn't what caught his sight. In fact, the more he glared, the more shocked he became, and he made a slow walk towards the edge. It was like he was seeing an otherworldly occurrence. Despite it being semi-dark now, he was able to glance at what he was seeing.

He gasped, and his eyes widened.

"Son-" Valka said, before Blavery interrupted.

"I need a telescope..." Blavery said, "there's a whole bunch of boats over down there..."

Hiccup slowly moved back up as he held his children tight, and he glared over to the boats that Blavery had sighted. Instantly, his eyes widened, and his heart ached.

"Are they Mentran-" Hiccup asked.

"That's what I'm thinking, Hiccup, I need a telescope, pronto..." Blavery insisted.

"I've got one here for ya...take it quick..." Gobber offered, with Blavery briefly thanking Gobber.

Hiccup's engagement levels had just surged significantly at the sight of that armada, which appeared to be sailing to the direction of the island. If it was a Mentranian armada, that meant that they had an opportunity to potentially save Astrid. Even though it looked bad that an armada from the outer seas was sailing this way, for Hiccup personally, if this was a Mentranian armada, it was the light at the end of a seemingly ongoing, dark, depressing tunnel.

Blavery looked through the telescope, and he easily recognised Guddorn at the front boat.

"Hiccup, Guddorn the Glorious at two o'clock, that is indeed a Mentranian armada, they must be checking your island out for something..."

"Guddorn? that's one of the prominent four of that regime on Old Berk, right?" Hiccup asked.

"It is. One out of the four we'll need to capture if we want to bring down that regime, but also to get a clear lead on your wife's location." Blavery revealed.

"Hiccup, shall we?-" Eret asked, as he too caught a sight of the armada ahead on the small looking seas.

"Get me my wing suit. We're going down there right now to counter them." Hiccup declared.

At that, Zephyr and Nuffink gave an applaud at their dad's determination.

"You can do it dad!" they both chanted, as Valka smiled at her son's new found energy.

"Alvin, we'll need your men out on the boats, I've a plan in mind for us to get down to their armada." Hiccup said, pointing to Alvin like a leader.

"You've got it, my boy." Alvin replied.

"And Blavery, we'll go and gather Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut and the others. We need to be quick. Plan in small, guys, get rid of the armada, but capture Guddorn, his defeat will not only hopefully weaken Hawkon's power, it'll also give us a clear lead on Astrid. Let's go, go go." Hiccup semi-yelled, as he began sprinting into the village.

"That's the spirit, Hiccup." Blavery proudly uttered back.

As Hiccup, Alvin, Eret and Blavery sprinted back into the village to get geared up, Zephyr, Nuffink, Valka and Gobber had all applauded Hiccup. They were proud.


	28. Sea warfare

**CHAPTER 28: Sea warfare**

Alvin the Treacherous led his men away from New Berk towards the direction of the Mentranian armada. The Outcasts were using the boats provided by the Hooligans, and although it was within their intention to attack the Mentranians, they weren't actually going to go fully into battle. The reason why will soon be discovered.

"SAIL FORWARDS, MEN! OUR FRIENDS ARE WAITING FOR US!" Alvin commanded, as his boat floated on the seas like a sea-saw given how much it was moving on each side.

Although the sky was darkening, the Outcasts were able to see the Mentranian armada clearly. Alvin especially. He kept looking into his wooden telescope, provided to him by Gobber back up on New Berk.

"If they decide to retreat, gentlemen, we'll just stay on their track as much as we possibly can. Hiccup needs us to keep them focused on us." Alvin said, looking back to the other boats surrounding his own, with his other Outcast men.

Alvin adjusted his sail so his boat floated in line with the direction of the wind. The entirety of the Outcasts on the seas, equipped with spears, and a few with crossbows of their own, were now sailing towards the direction of the Mentranians, who looked to be going for a circling of New Berk before the emergence of the Outcasts.

"That's it men...sail right into their direction, they'll know that we mean business tonight..." Alvin said, smiling, as his whole tribe on the seas currently was sailing with full confidence towards the Mentranians.

Some clicks on the boats of the Outcasts could be heard, which were generated from the arrows being placed into the crossbows some of them had. As the scent of seaweed rocked the air on the seas, the Outcasts were more than equipped to take on the Mentranian armada ahead.

"Alvin, which boat is Guddorn located on?" an Outcast also on Alvin's boat asked.

Alvin thought that that'd be an important bit of knowledge to clarify, because he was specifically assigned the role of ensuring that Guddorn wasn't accidentally killed or lost in the inevitable confrontation of weaponry and attacks.

"Good point. I ought to find the fanatic and ensure we don't lose him." Alvin nodded, leaning down to grab his telescope once again.

He raised the telescope up and firmly slotted it against his left eye. Upon looking through it, a zoomed in sighting of the Mentranian armada, where the boats were firmly packed with masked Mentranian vikings, alongside brief collections of Berserkers, were the first thing he picked up. Guddorn, wearing a lot more gear than his companions, was easy to make out, and Alvin was able to identify the right hand viking of Hawkon easily as a result.

"There he is. Right there." Alvin whispered, as the sea wind briefly collapsed itself towards his direction.

As he studied the Mentranians through the telescope, one of the fanatical vikings looked like he was yelling, and Alvin caught that very Mentranian pointing towards his direction, prompting the other Mentranians to look here as well. If only it was possible to hear what they were saying.

"Seems like they've finally noticed us." Alvin nodded, memorising Guddorn's face upon placing the telescope down.

"Only just?" one Outcast behind Alvin asked, as all of the boats continued to sail, albeit slowly, towards the Mentranians.

"Yeah. Majority of them are wearing scaly overhead robe masks, whatever they are. Chances are they're pretty blind souls." Alvin chuckled, "but we need to expect a confrontation. These guys aren't gonna give us a free pass, and if we want the plan agreed just now to work, we'll have to take on Guddorn's defences directly."

The distance was closing between the two sets of boats on the seas near New Berk. The Mentranians had only just noticed the Outcasts coming their way. Guddorn's goal was to distract the Outcasts and force them to use up their weaponry, so the Hooligans would be less equipped than before, even though these clearly weren't the Hooligans. Alvin's plan was to attack Guddorn's armada, and to help Hiccup in capturing Hawkon's right hand viking himself.

As the distance between the two armadas got closer and closer, the Outcasts brought out their crossbows and wooden shields, which they were hanging on the edges of their boats.

"READY YOUR SHIELDS, MEN. WE MUST AVOID THEIR VENOMOUS ARROWS!" Alvin echoed, which had been delivered perfectly across the air all to the boats behind him.

The Outcasts slotted their spiky helmets lower on their foreheads, some held their spears up high in the event they were required to hop over to the hostile boats, and some aimed their crossbows up over the seas in preparation for contact.

Should this plan fail, the Outcasts will have not only been played, but they'll have also missed the crucial opportunity to capture one out of the four prominent vikings in the Mentranian regime, which in this case was Guddorn the Glorious.

His capture will not only start the hopeful destabilising of 'The Viking's Mentra' regime on Old Berk, but it'll also potentially give Hiccup the answer to the question he's been asking ever since this whole debacle began; where is Astrid?

For the Mentranians, this encounter was solely to get the Hooligans (or in this case, the Outcasts) to waste their weaponry and their equipment, and then subsequently, for them to retreat and return home to Mentra, at which point they'll have gathered a physical image of the island they'll be dealing with when the time arrives to invade it.

But they had to be careful, because the consequences of failure of this mission will result in an angered despot viking in Hawkon potentially bringing back the Mentranian death squad, and even potentially for Guddorn. He's done it before, he'll happily do it again.

"Sir, it seems like we've got a different tribe of vikings heading our way, whatever they are, they're approaching us...what do we do?" a Mentranian asked.

"They're Outcasts. We simply do what we came here to do. The Hooligans are evidently too chicken to attack us. They know our might is second to none, so they've sent out their carers. No matter. We can deal with their carers quite easily." Guddorn declared, as the Mentranian armada continued to sail together.

"LOAD UP THE CATAPULT!" the Mentranian captain yelled, with the captain essentially being a 2nd commander of the armada, below Guddorn.

The seas swayed the boats and the night time hovered over the skies, but that didn't stop the Mentranians from utilising their secret weapon that Alvin couldn't see on his telescope just now, due to the secret weapon, the catapult, being camouflaged in sight with the darkness that was now rife.

"Captain, instruct our men to sail towards the carers of the Hooligans. When we fire away the catapult and knock down one of their boats, our strength and advantage will have doubled. We can run through them like a predator running through its prey." Guddorn commanded, as his boat's sails were adjusted by the captain, so it was sailing in line with the rest of the armada; towards the Outcasts.

The Mentranians adjusted their catapult as the boats continued to sway on the seas. One of the Mentranians on the boat with the catapult grabbed a decent-sized boulder that they had carried on the journey from Mentra, but it took three more Mentranians to fully load it onto the catapult. They ensured that it was aimed directly for the Outcasts in the distance, just a little in front of New Berk.

"Ready for take off, gents..." one Mentranian declared, referring to the catapult and its boulder.

The Outcasts and Alvin had continued to sail in the midst of the dark, closer to the Mentranian armada. They were starting to see the Mentranians in person at this point, they were that closer to the armada.

"We're pretty much at them, ready yourselves up..." Alvin insisted, once again yelling to echo his comment to his men behind on the other boats.

Suddenly, a thunderous collision, whereby one of the Outcast boats had collided with what appeared to be a boulder that fell from the air, had emerged. This sent Alvin into a state of shock, as well as the other Outcasts. The boat's wooden structure had been teared up entirely, and as the boat started to sink, the vikings in it leapt out of it and swam into the cold sea.

The sheer collision of the boulder and the boat had sent Alvin slipping to the floor of his from the flinching he received, but he quickly got up and leaned over to grab the hands of his fellow Outcast men to lift them up.

The boulder had landed harshly onto the boat from the direction ahead of Alvin. It was clearly airborne, and the loss of that boat had quickly prompted a fear and panic into Alvin. That was no random boulder. The Mentranians had a catapult with them, and that was dangerous.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" one Outcast yelled.

"THEY'VE GOT A CATAPULT! FIRE YOUR ARROWS FROM HERE, MEN!" Alvin yelled.

The Outcasts, frightened and struck from that out of nowhere sinking of one of their boats in thanks to a catapulted boulder, placed their shields up to the sides of their boats and the ones with crossbows had started firing their arrows across the seas towards the Mentranian armada.

"A direct hit, sir Guddorn..."

"Wonderful. We've got them rattled. Load up the next and final boulder we brought with us from our island." Guddorn nodded, as did the captain.

"Sir, they're firing arrows at us...any second now they could be within striking distance of us."

"Precisely what we want them to do. Perhaps we could, though, for a bit of a laugh, return the favour. Open fire towards them to hold them off."

"Aye, Guddorn sir."

The Mentranians, outnumbering the Outcasts in terms of those who have crossbows, aimed theirs up and began firing their venomous arrows towards the boats of the Outcasts. They were getting dangerously closer to each other, as the unpleasant sound of arrows being flung from the crossbows ran rampant in the war-filled air. It was like a bomb being flicked, or something thick being flicked.

The two viking types had reached within enough distance of each other to be able to fire their arrows at their boats. Some stuck, some didn't, but now, screaming and cries of panic were being echoed from the Outcasts, to the delight of the confident, striking Mentranians.

"Boulder number two on the way, Guddorn sir..."

"Splendid. Their screams, as we rule over them gradually, are a joy to behold...steady on for the catapult, men.." Guddorn said.

"ALVIN, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CROSSBOWS TO KEEP UP!"

"WHY DIDN'T I JUST ASK HICCUP OR GOBBER FOR MORE...THEY'RE CLOSING IN ON US AND THEY'RE FIRING THEIR VENOMOUS ARROWS, MEN...WE NEED TO-"

"ALVIN, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" an Outcast yelled, as a grey boulder was visibly crashing down from the air to the point it looked like it was about to hit Alvin straight on.

A second boulder had made a dangerous thud of a collision, this time to Alvin's boat, as the Chieftan of the Outcasts had stumbled and dropped over the edge of his boat deliberately to avoid the boulder. The boulder once again created a sound of thunderous bombs, the weight of the rock was so thick and hard against the wood when it landed upon it, creating another wreckage easily.

"ALVIN, SHALL WE RETREAT?!"

"RETREAT MEN, RETREAAT! WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE BRINGING ENOUGH CROSSBOWS!" Alvin yelled from the water, as he swam with shiny sweat coming down his cheeks even though he was in the water.

"DON'T SWIM AWAY, WE'RE ONLY GOING TO KILL YOU!" a menacing, inciting voice from a slight distance besides Alvin yelled; the Mentranian armada was slowly emerging closer, and that yell came straight from the Mentranians.

They knew Alvin and a couple of other Outcasts were in the water.

"GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE! QUICK! GET ME AND HIM OUT OF HERE AND LET'S SAIL THE HECK AWAY! THEIR NUMBERS ARE TOO STRONG FOR US!" Alvin yelled, as his arms felt tired from swimming.

Alvin swam like his life depended on it, his arms swaying and waving through the waters like he was swimming away from a predator underwater. His breathing had increased as the reality dawned on him that he could very well be killed here due to how close the Mentranian armada was, evident from the yelling one of the Mentranians emitted just now, and a yell that Alvin himself heard.

Alvin and his other Outcast partner was pulled up into the other boat by another fellow Outcast. The Mentranians were less than two minutes away, and they were still firing their venomous crossbows.

"MEN, GET BACK! GET BACK! HICCUP SHOULD BE DOWN HERE ANY SECOND NOW! WE NEED TO EVACUATE IN THE MEANTIME AND GET THEM CLOSER TO NEW BERK FOR THE PLAN!"

"ON IT, ALVIN!"

All Guddorn could do, hearing the cries of panic from the Outcasts as his armada closed in on them, was chuckle.


	29. Captured

**CHAPTER 29: Captured**

Hiccup, Eret, Fishlegs, Blavery Borhid, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, had all stood at the edge of New Berk, in their wing suits, watching the seas from above as the two sets of boats collided, and it looked like Alvin's men were now retreating.

"Hiccup, when do we go down?" Eret asked.

"Right about now. They've moved close enough to the island for us to take them by surprise. We'll glide down to their armada and destroy whoever they've got defending them. Then, we grab Guddorn." Hiccup insisted, subsequently flipping his Toothless wing suit helmet over his face.

"Good luck, son!" Valka said, as she stood besides Gobber and the two kids.

"Thanks, mum. This'll be our way of finding Astrid and commencing the first step of destroying this evil that's on our old home island.." Hiccup said, his voice sounding echoey due to the helmet covering it.

"I haven't done this for ages, Hiccup, I really don't like heightss?" Fishlegs conceded.

"Oh come on Fishlegs, it's only for now, we agreed to this plan before...we HAVE to do it to save Astrid..."

"I know...but...-"

"AHAH! YOU'RE A BIG BABY!" Tuffnut chuckled, pointing to Fishlegs, to the point Fishlegs had stumbled on his balance.

"YEAH! A BABY ALRIGHT!" Ruffnut added.

"KNOCK IT OFF, YOU GUYS! WE HAVE TO GO DOWN NOW!" Hiccup said, stretching his leather wings of his wing suit out, readying himself for the leap off of New Berk, where he and the rest will subsequently glide through the air onto the armada of Mentranians below.

"I'm ready when you are, Hiccup." Eret proudly nodded, keeping his dignity.

"Same here." Blavery said.

"Remember guys, we want Guddorn alive, he won't be any use to us dead yet." Hiccup reminded everyone.

"ONE, TWO..." Hiccup started sprinting towards the edge of New Berk, with everyone else following him.

Fishlegs hesitated, but he got through his fears due to the significance of the task in hand.

"THREEEEEEEEEE!" Hiccup yelled, whereby he leapt off of New Berk first, subsequently stretching his arms out and letting his wings of his wing suit elevate him within the wind.

He saw the dark seas below through the eye hole of his helmet as he glided through the air.

"PERFECT GUYS, PERFECT..." Hiccup yelled, as the wind roared viciously in his ears as he glided carefully, high up above the seas.

The Hooligans were, to the unawareness of the Mentranians, up above the ongoing battle between Alvin's Outcasts and the Mentranians themselves.

* * *

Alvin and his men may have looked stupid for not bringing enough crossbows to counter the Mentranian armada, but their main goal, given to them by Hiccup, was to lure the Mentranians closer to New Berk, so Hiccup & co could glide from the top of the island, in their wing suits, right into Guddorn's armada. They, in reality, didn't expect the Mentranians to put up too much of a resistance. It just so happened to be the case that the Mentranians were much more equipped than Alvin anticipated, with the catapult especially, and the number of crossbows they had.

Their numbers of crossbows were even more dangerous when you considered the venomous arrows, too. In hindsight, the Outcasts probably should've equipped themselves with a ton more weaponry and crossbows, and general ranging gear.

With that catapult, Alvin and his men were two boats down, as it came to be in the last chapter, and although the Outcast Chieftan was soaking with seaweed scented sea water, alongside another fellow Outcast, after the two of them had to jump into the water to avoid being killed by the second catapulted boulder that'd go on to directly hit Alvin's boat, he and his set of boats had widened the gap between themselves and the Mentranians.

"Alvin...that was too close for comfort..."

"I'm so sorry for that happening. Either we underestimated them or we just weren't ready. But they're no longer directly on our trail. MEN, SCOUT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM AND OURSELVES!" Alvin said, subsequently yelling that last part of his sentence.

The Mentranian armada seemed to be fully intact, although a few of Guddorn's boats had arrows impaled into their structures. Luckily, though, they seemed to no longer be chasing them.

"All clear, Alvin." a couple Outcasts on a nearby boat said.

"All clear."

"They've backed off."

"Good, good. But again, I'm really sorry for that to have happened." Alvin said.

Alvin was quite surprised at seeing the Mentranian armada backing away and not chasing them on the seas...given they had the upper hand just now, wouldn't it have been a smart move to..from their perspective...have at least attempted to fully conquer his men? Alvin was wondering what the motive behind the Mentranians backing off was, but he was thankful for it; if they hadn't, Alvin himself and his men could've become the next visitors to Mentra's isolation camps.

The armada itself was steering off towards the left. Alvin was careful to mind his position on the edge due to the Mentranians still having their crossbows up high; he didn't want to be impaled with a venomous arrow.

"I think, as Hiccup wanted us to, we've got them close enough to New Berk right here, for them to glide down right into their armada." Alvin nodded, still breathing somewhat rapidly, whilst he was recovering from the panic he gained before, from a near-end experience when he was almost killed.

"I fear, though, we haven't done enough to destroy the outer portions of that armada, to access Guddorn easily..."

"We're only five minutes away from their armada. Once they're distracted with Hiccup and the rest, we can probably sail back towards them and lend them a helping hand. The boy's gonna need it if he's going to rescue Astrid." Alvin said.

The Outcasts were swaying on the vast night seas, as the Mentranian armada started steering to a left direction, their sails blowing gently and slowly in the winds.

"Well done. Our might has been displayed quite thumpingly. Let's head on home." Guddorn proudly declared.

"I think it's safe to say, sir Guddorn, we're in a very good position for Operation Catafly, given the weakness of those vikings just now." the Mentranian captain viking uttered to Guddorn, sounding optimistic.

"The father will be delighted with our ethic, and our will to have done this, and I agree. Catafly is going to be a walk on the waters when the time comes. FOR THE FATHER!"

"**FOOOOOOORR THE FATHERRRRRRRRRR!**" the armada, being so close together, yelled collectively.

The chant sounded intimidating and threatening given how many had yelled it at the same time, but it was simply Mentra's patriotic way of expressing their joy at victory. They've forced the allies of the Hooligans to waste their weaponry, and they had just demonstrated comfortably their ability to weaken the enemies in any future battle, as shown with the catapult attacks.

In reality, the Outcasts weren't equipped with enough gear or weapons, but still, the Mentranians took this 'triumph' as a victory, and a conclusion of the mission to have held off the Hooligans and their allies whilst the engulfing of the barbaric archipelago continues to go on. That was Hawkon's demand of Guddorn, and he's achieved it.

Applauds and yells of patriotism were rife in the air in the armada, as the Mentranians all adjusted their sails and rotated the poles of them, so they could make their boats sail back into the direction of Mentra. They were all cheerful and spoke amongst each other.

Guddorn studied New Berk's structure as his armada slowly began sailing away. Curious to him was the fact that the island was unlike any other. But once they take over it and win this whole war, New Berk had the potential to become the 'capital' island of Mega Mentra in the event of victory. Similarly to how we have capital cities.

But first, the Mentranians and Berserkers needed to win the war, and so far, they seemed to be doing rather okay.

"ALVIN," Hiccup yelled, as he and the lot glided in the air directly above Alvin's boats, "COME BACK TOWARDS THEM!" he added, only having a certain amount of time to yell the message due to the speed of his glide.

As Hiccup, Eret, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Blavery Borhid and Snotlout glided past the Outcasts, towards the Mentranian armada, Alvin looked back at his men with a surge of energy.

"YOU HEARD THE BOY, GUYS!" Alvin instructed.

Hiccup was ahead of everyone else. He had ensured that everyone had their helmets down for when they landed upon one of the boats of the armada, so they could avoid being inflicted with their venomous arrows. The smoothly glided along, and like a missile, they were all sliding down the wind towards the significantly smaller armada in comparison to the ones used to invade Outcast Island.

"Uh, sir?" one of the Mentranians asked Guddorn, sighting what he thought were some sort of floating colours ahead.

"What is it?" Guddorn asked.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" he pointed.

Guddorn noticed it. Instantly, he sat up and backed away on his boat.

"THERE HE IS!" Hiccup yelled to everyone, as they got closer and closer to the armada.

"OPEN YOUR ARROWS UP, MEN! THEY'RE HERE!" Guddorn yelled.

"WHO'S HERE?!"

"THE HOOLIGANS! THEY'RE IN THOSE WING SUITS!"

"SIR-" the Mentranian was cut off as Hiccup pelted the Mentranian with his metal leg as he made the first landing on one of the boats.

His black scaly armour of Toothless's wingsuit meant that he wasn't able to be seen just now. But Hiccup had found himself surrounded by a bunch of Berserkers and Mentranians.

Eret & co had landed next, and as Hiccup studied the vicinity, he was quickly interrupted by a bunch of arrows being pelted into his scaly gear from the attacking Mentranians.

"HICCUP, WATCH YOUR BACK!" Eret yelled, shoving Hiccup out of the way as everyone became engulfed by the numbers of Mentranians.

Eret had rushed into a charging Berserker who had equipped a steel mace, as he nearly slammed Hiccup with it. Eret kept his helmet on as Hiccup snatched the crossbow up from the fallen Mentranian he had kicked, after being shoved by Eret.

Eret had pelted the incoming Berserker with a hard, aching fist to the stomach, prompting the Berserker to drop his weaponry.

"GET IN THE SEAS YA WALKING MOUNTAIN!" Eret raged, as he gripped the struggling, in-pain Berserker and tossed him overboard into the seas.

"FIRE THEM ALL UP, MEN! THEIR ARMOUR'S COUNTERING OUR ARROWS!" Guddorn yelled, on the front boat, directly ahead of the Hooligans.

He was careful to keep his distance. The Hooligans, as they were all being bounced off with tons of arrows from Guddorn's own men, seemed to be countering them all due to those wing suits. Guddorn looked behind himself as he had contemplated potentially escaping capture by the Hooligans by swimming away.

"Don't worry sir, we've got them held off, you'll be safe." the captain had insisted to Guddorn.

"SNOTLOUT, FISHLEGS-" Hiccup struggled, as he found himself dodging and ducking around numerous attempts by a couple of Mentranians on the packed initial boat to hit him helmet first with their crossbows, "TRY AND GET ON THE OTHER BOATS!"

"BLAVERY, YOU LOOK FOR GUDDORN!" Hiccup subsequently yelled, as the cries of rage and yells emitted from the boats as the battle enraged.

More and More Mentranians hopped across their boats, as did Berserkers, to the one the Hooligans had landed on, and were currently still on. Hiccup was struggling. The more he dodged and ducked, and subsequently whacked his acquired crossbow into the heads of the fanatic vikings, the more they seemed to double in numbers. Eret at the moment was still dealing with the remaining Berserkers.

"GUDDORN, WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!" Blavery yelled, as he tried to push his way through the maze of Mentranians in the midst of their vicious cries of rage under their scaly face masks.

Hiccup felt a couple of arms wrap themselves around his armpits, and like a flat object, he was pulled down to the wooden floor of the boat back first, held down by about five to ten Mentranians. The speed at which he was pulled down had made the boat shake briefly. He simply became overwhelmed with the numbers.

"TUFFNUT! RUFFNUT! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Hiccup yelled, as he felt a boot forcefully pressed upon his chest to keep himself down.

"It's time to say goodbye, 'Chief'..." one Mentranian uttered from the side.

"MISSED US! HAHA! YOU CAN'T IMPALE US EITHER! DORKS!" Tuffnut yelled, as he felt his gear be tapped by a bunch of arrows being fired by the Mentranians as the fanatical vikings were now all on the boat the Hooligans were on.

"HICCUP, I CAN'T- AAARGHHH!" Blavery yelled, as he too was caught amongst a maze of Mentranians, as their yells and rages had ran rife in his ears.

He too was forced down to the ground, back first with a dangerous thud, as the Mentranians intended on ripping off all their helmets to inflict their arrows head first into them. Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, were all grabbed in the same manner due to the numbers overwhelming them. They were doomed.

"ARGH, NO! NO! SNOTLOUT-"

"I CAN'T, HICCUP, I CAN'T!"

Hiccup felt a couple of palms grasp tightly onto his black helmet that was covering his face. He couldn't raise his hands up enough to prevent them from opening it. Sweat began leaking down his forehead and cheeks under the helmet as the Mentranians kept him on the ground by his legs, his arms, and his chest. It felt like it was game over.

"NOT SO FAST, COWAARDSSSS!" Eret yelled, rushing into the entirety of the Mentranians, just as they were trying to yank off the helmets of everyone.

Eret's gigantic size and arms meant that he could bulldoze right into the Mentranians, and that's precisely what he did. Fishlegs had joined in as well, as he and Eret rushed around the boat, having dealt with the Berserkers, (subsequently tossing them all into the water), ramming a mace that Eret had acquired, and Fishlegs, ramming a crossbow, into all of the Mentranians.

"HOP ON OVER BOYS!" Alvin yelled, Hiccup hearing his voice as he felt the Mentranians retreat, and he could hear a whole range of bodies collapse to the boat floor.

Just like that, as the Mentranians retreated, the armada had been emptied of the fanatical vikings, as the majority of them were knocked out and dropped over the boats into the waters.

The Outcasts had hopped on over to the armada as their set of boats finally arrived. Eret grabbed a couple of the Mentranians and sent them headbutting into each other, subsequently knocking them out.

At this point, a quarter of the Outcasts were on the Mentranian boats as more continued to arrive; the only boat remaining with the fanatics was the one with Guddorn. The night time was in its entirety as the boats, now besides the Outcast boats, had roamed and floated upon the deep seas near New Berk, as a few tiny portions of the seas shined a reflection of the moon above.

A peaceful night like this was the occurring conditions of a brutal battle on the seas. Crazy, but it was to be expected.

"ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?!" Alvin yelled.

"I'VE ONLY JUST GONE AND DEALT WITH THESE FANATICS MYSELF MAN!" Eret replied.

"GREAT JOB, ERET, GREAT JOB, EVERYONE. WHERE'S GUDDORN?!" Hiccup yelled, as the Mentranians were either on the floor, knocked out from Eret and Fishlegs just now, or in the waters.

Hiccup was quick to bounce back onto his feet, on the middle boat of the armada as one more was directly ahead; the one with Guddorn and his captain on it.

"QUICK, GET OUT OF HERE! WE'VE RAN OUT OF OUR ARROWS!" A couple of other Mentranians commanded, as they had managed to get out of the sight of the Hooligans in the midst of the battle just now, to sail back to Mentra, knowing full well their commander in Guddorn was still vulnerable.

"HE'S OVER HERE, HICCUP! HE'S TRYING TO SAIL AWAY!" Blavery pointed, as Fishlegs, Eret, Alvin, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and Snotlout all began pursuing the edge of the boat they were in, as the gap between Guddorn's boat and their boat widened.

"WHAT'RE YOU IDIOTS DOING?! SAIL AWAY! SAIL AWAY!" Guddorn yelled to the Mentranian captain, just as Hiccup had leapt over the small gap, leaping up onto the boat, as did Eret subsequently.

Eret tackled down the captain besides Guddorn, and Alvin was quick to tackle down the other Mentranian. Hiccup, feeling a surge of anger as he rushed over to Guddorn, as Hawkon's right hand viking was just about to leap into the seas, to avoid being captured by Hiccup, had leapt upon the body of Guddorn and had taken him down.

Angered with a red steaming face, Hiccup kept Guddorn down as the fanatical armada leader struggled. Hiccup pelted Guddorn in the face with a couple of punches as everyone else, from the Outcasts and the Hooligans, hopped onto the boat with them.

Hiccup continued to pelt Guddorn with hammer-like fists in terms of their force. He felt so angry and on the verge of crying, whilst committing the physical attacks on Guddorn, because of him knowing that the fanatic he had on the boat ground right now was a prominent figure of not just the Mentranian regime on Old Berk, but a prominent figure in the disappearance of Astrid. He was so angry as he kept punching him.

The armada was defeated, and the result has ended up with the Outcasts and the Hooligans successfully capturing the first of four prominent vikings of Mentra, in Guddorn the Glorious. Hiccup couldn't calm himself down as he continued to pelt Guddorn with his fists. He wanted answers about Astrid, and answers he'll definitely be getting once they get the fanatic onto New Berk in a position of vulnerability.


	30. Forcing the truth

**CHAPTER 30: Forcing the truth**

Guddorn was isolated in a medium sized hut, somewhere on New Berk. Where this hut precisely was on the tall island was unclear.

The only light that emitted was from a candle on a small wooden table at the corner of the room. Guddorn was joined in the hut by Hiccup, Blavery Borhid, and Eret.

Hiccup didn't want Zephyr or Nuffink in here or even near the hut for what he was about to do. He didn't want them to witness it. So he had his mum, Valka, take care of them back at his house, alongside Gobber once again. But the rest of the guys, from Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, to Fishlegs, alongside a good chunk of the Berkians, were situated outside the hut.

That was how significant this capture was. The Berkians all knew that inside the hut they were all stood outside of right now, Hiccup had one of the prominent fanatical vikings of the regime situated on the old island. And they all knew that Astrid's whereabouts laid firmly on the fanatic providing the information to Hiccup, by force if required.

Blavery Borhid was situated near the wooden table with the candle. Eret was within the opposite corner of the room. Hiccup was the only one stood firmly in front of Guddorn, who was sat down on a chair in the middle of the room, where he was tied via his hands onto it.

His palms were aching from the ropes tightly holding them around the wooden back structures of the chair, but there was nothing he could do about it, thankfully.

"It's all came around in a full circle, hasn't it?" Blavery interrogated, as Hiccup strolled in a circle around the chair Guddorn was sat on.

The fanatic already had a black eye, and a touch of blood had ran down his face, but he didn't seem phased by it, and although it very much stung in terms of pain, he wasn't going to give into Hiccup and the Hooligans that easily. He had a duty, in his view, to guard the intentions of Hawkon, regardless of anything that'd happen to him right now.

Bits of metal from Guddorn's shiny gear had fell to the wooden floor when he was dragged in here a short while ago, and Guddorn had generally looked like a damaged viking. But the Mentranian, as mentioned, was not going to give in, no matter what.

"You put fear into my life, you put fear into the life of my family, you and the rest, in the defence force, ruled with an iron fist over me, and now, we rule over you with an iron fist." Blavery boasted, walking closer to the fanatic as he uttered that.

"You've-..." Guddorn struggled, as his throat ached from the stinging pain from the punch marks, "no...idea, little boy..."

Guddorn was breathing heavily, like a pant. His exhaustion from the pain was clear.

Hiccup rushed over to Guddorn from behind, placed a firm hand right over the throat of the fanatic, as he kept his teeth gritted with enraged eyes that looked like they were about to explode. He placed his other palm, with an intended thud, onto Guddorn's shoulder, and Hiccup leaned closer to him.

"You...are gonna tell me...where my wife is..." Hiccup angrily whispered, "**WHERE IS SHE?!**" he suddenly roared, into Guddorn's face.

Hiccup couldn't help but tighten the grip on Guddorn's throat. He was so angry and enraged he could cry, but he knew he had to resist killing Guddorn for now. Letting go of the fanatic's throat, Hiccup raised a fist up and pelted it, like a rapid bit of air, into the cheek of Guddorn, sending a thunderous bang echoing throughout the medium-sized room.

Guddorn coughed, and leaned downwards to the side, at that punch. He slowly looked up, as Hiccup threateningly held his fist up again, subsequently grabbing the chest gear of Guddorn. His knuckles were aimed directly at Guddorn's face.

"You..." Guddorn coughed, aiming his utterance towards Hiccup, "you are good..." he slowly nodded, referring to Hiccup's punches.

Hiccup threw another set of knuckles into Guddorn's temple, sending the fanatic leaning down towards the side of his chair as his face reddened like a volcano, his eyes swelling with blackness. Upon looking back towards Hiccup, Guddorn saw another fist rapidly fire towards his eyes, this time pelting off of the left side of his face, emitting a huge volcanic thud in his own ears, as the pain enraged and blew up subsequently afterwards in his cheeks and general face.

"**I WANT YOU TO TELL ME, RIGHT NOW! WHERE IS ASTRID?!**" Hiccup yelled, once again grabbing the chest gear of Guddorn the Glorious, threateningly raising up his free knuckles to the fanatic's direction once again.

"Hiccup-" Blavery said, stepping forwards.

"**I'LL STAY UP ALL NIGHT AND ADD TO HIS TROUBLES IF I HAVE TO!**" Hiccup roared towards Blavery, still keeping a tight grip of Guddorn by his chest gear.

"Hiccup, Hiccup, he more than deserves to be a punching bag, but he's gotta speak. If not, you know what to do, but let him speak." Blavery said, trying to calm the atmosphere down.

Hiccup might not be acting like his usual self, but you couldn't blame him, when Astrid's whereabouts, and whether or not she was actually alive, was all down to Guddorn here, one of the prominent fanatics of the regime Hiccup's at war with, revealing the details. Guddorn's partly responsible for Astrid's disappearance, and as her husband, there was no way Hiccup was going to be his usual self. He hated this fanatic with near-crying rage.

Hiccup, panting with redness, backed up ever so reluctantly, as Guddorn oddly began swirling his head around like he was crazy. It was like he was in a whole different world.

"No amount of punches..." Guddorn struggled, coughing all the way through, "or whatever you have in mind...are gonna make me bow down..."

"You've no option here, you sick lunatic," Eret said, walking towards the tied up Guddorn on the chair, "if you aren't gonna speak, we'll just send you down to the depths, in a world of hurt, and it won't just be Hiccup here, helping you reach that point." Eret threatened, cracking his knuckles as he slowly adjusted his wing suit, to potentially help Hiccup in forcing the fanatic to speak up.

Guddorn wasn't buckling. He kept chuckling very reluctantly, with the burning pain from his eyes and general face, from the punches, getting to him. He was determined to push through whatever was going to happen to him, if it meant guarding the intentions.

"Hahaaa. You can tie me up, impale me, whatever you Hooligans..." Guddorn stuttered, due to the severe injuries on his face, "have in mind. The enemy shall not be given the information..."

Guddorn was willing to take one for the team at this point, and by that, he's basically willing to die for the 'father', in Hawkon the Second.

"Hold on, Hiccup, hold on..." Blavery said, noticing that Hiccup had clenched his fist.

"WHAT ELSE CAN I DO, BLAVERY?! HE ISN'T TELLING ME WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW TO RESCUE ASTRID?!" Hiccup yelled, subsequently looking over to Guddorn, rushing to grab the fanatic by his chest gear again, "**IF YOU DON'T SPEAK UP RIGHT NOW, I'LL GET MY NIGHT FURY HERE AND HE'LL TURN YOU INTO A WALL OF FLAMES! WHERE...ISS...MY...WIIIIIIIIIIFEEEEEEEEEE?!**" Hiccup absolutely barked, shoving his face directly into Guddorn's as he yelled that, with pure rage and desperation.

Hiccup released the chest gear of Guddorn. Threatening Guddorn with Toothless burning him up was obviously a flat one, because the dragons were all in The Hidden World, which was the worst possible thing for the Hooligans right now. Hiccup, however, wanted to keep threatening Guddorn with the dragons, as if they were actually here, in a pure attempt to get the fanatic to speak up.

Hiccup was betting, in his angered, emotional mind, that if Toothless was here, Guddorn would speak up. Surely, the idea of dying in flames was horrifying enough for anyone? Hiccup was going by that mindset.

"You've no dragons...you really..." Guddorn coughed once again, "really are a 'Hiccup', aren't ya?" a damaged Guddorn added.

"**YES WE DO. MY NIGHT FURY IS THE MOST UNKNOWN, DANGEROUS DRAGON TO ALL OF THE VIKINGS. HE CONQUERED DRAGO, HE CONQUERED GRIMMEL, AND HE'LL DAMN SURE CONQUER YOU AND HAWKON, WHO'S A RUTHLESS DESPOT. SO YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME, ONE MORE TIME, WHERE IS MY WIFE?!**"

Blavery Borhid and Eret refrained from interfering, because neither of them wanted to risk this threat Hiccup was posing upon Guddorn failing. By pretending that the dragons were here, they were able to portray a much more realistic threat. The only question is, would it work on somebody as unhinged, and as fanatic as Guddorn?

Hiccup reluctantly released Guddorn from his tight, rage-filled grip via the chest gear, as he coughed up a few bits of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You...may insult...the father...but he'll...argh..." Guddorn stuttered, looking down as he closed his eyes tightly, the severe pain finally getting into his ribs.

He looked back up, panting with his damaged face.

"He'll...overcome you...you dare insult...the father, the saviour of our vikings..." Guddorn whispered, stuttering, "there's no dragons...but I can see...precisely...what you're up to-"

"**I'M GONNA-**" Hiccup yelled, raising his fist up.

"HICCUP, HICCUP, JUST HOLD ON A MOMENT..." Blavery said, moving in between Hiccup and Guddorn, "LET HIM SPEAK...I KNOW IT'S HARD...I WOULDN'T MIND KNOCKING HIM FLAT EITHER...but...just see what he says..."

Hiccup was panting ever so rapidly, as he struggled to reason with Blavery's comment.

"And herein lies your faults..." Guddorn spoke up, sounding more focused, "you have just...mentioned Grimmel...and Drago...two enemies of our people too...you mention them...like you aren't the same...but you are...all of you outsiders are...well, haha...you know what they say...the apple never falls far from the trees..."

"**WHERE IS MY WIFE?!**" Hiccup roared, losing his patience with Guddorn.

"You...are so...deluded...you have no idea...what you're up against...it's vikings like you...Drago...Grimmel...that imprisoned our people...and you expect me to buckle?"

Hiccup rushed forwards and pelted Guddorn harshly, with another banging thud, via his knuckles. Guddorn rapidly swung towards the side as his cheeks continued to flame up with redness.

"**FOR YOUR INFORMATION...**" Hiccup roared, "**..OUR TRIBE FOUGHT THOSE TWO...I PERSONALLY, ALONG WITH MY DRAGON, DEFEATED THEM BOTH...BUT I AIN'T GETTING INTO THIS WITH YOU, WHERE IS MY WIFE?! HEY?! HOW ABOUT I DO THIS...**"

Hiccup gripped Guddorn by the throat and tightened his grasp. Now, the tears were starting to appear in the eyes of Hiccup, as he tightened his strangle grasp upon Guddorn's throat.

"**YOU CAN KEEP DOING THIS, BUT WE AREN'T GOING TO KILL YOU. WE'LL FORCE YOU TO BURN IN YOUR OWN PAIN...UNTIL YOU TELL ME...WHERE MY WIFE IS...WHERE IS SHE?! HUH?! WHERE IS SHEEEEEE?!**" Hiccup yelled, pushing against Guddorn's throat, to the point he began wobbling the chair the fanatic was tied via his hands on.

As Hiccup shook the chair and tightened his grasp on Guddorn's throat, a small, pale looking initially, piece of paper had flown out from the inner gear of Guddorn. Hiccup noticed it, and in the midst of his crying rage, he shoved his fist off of Guddorn's throat, and knelt down to pick up the paper. As he stood up and read it, his intention with Guddorn was instantly settled.

It read the following, (in the viking symbols obviously, but this is what it would say in 'our' language):

_Reminder to you, Guddorn: do NOT disclose any inside occurrences, should certain circumstances take place, with ANYBODY. And in the event those circumstances don't take place, do NOT disclose the plan or any inside knowledge to the defenders unless they're either; affiliated with the overseers party, or are of a high position. You have my trust on these matters. - Hawkon._

Hiccup, upon reading the small paper, simply let it fly to the floor. He looked at the crossbow that Eret had held, and snatched it from him. Guddorn started struggling, knowing the contents of the paper that Hiccup had just read, and he had seen the Hooligan Chieftan snatch the crossbow just now, which only meant one thing.

Hiccup aimed the crossbow up at a struggling Guddorn who was moaning in pain as he struggled. Without hesitance, he fired an arrow directly into Guddorn's forehead, killing Hawkon's 'right hand' viking once and for all. His body stopped moving as soon as the arrow made its impale.

"WH-...what was that for, Hiccup?!" Eret said, "he was going...to tell you where or how Astrid was?!"

"It..." Hiccup wiped his tears from his rage, "was useless...he was never going to tell me anyways...he was ordered not to..."

"Hiccup...you've just done a brave thing right now...how did you know he wasn't going to tell you, no matter what?" Blavery asked.

"That paper...it placed him under the order, from that Hawkon, not to reveal what I needed to know..." Hiccup slowly uttered, dropping the crossbow to the ground.

Hiccup was angered that he wasn't able to force Guddorn to reveal Astrid's whereabouts or...her status, but he was counting on Blavery's notion that she was still alive, due to the regime wanting to use her as a bargaining chip against the Berkians themselves eventually.

"W-what next?" Eret asked.

"One down...three to go..." Blavery, in a deep tone, uttered, "and I can tell you...this is going to cause a wound in Hawkon's iron fist rule of that regime..."

The three of them stared at Guddorn's body, as it sat there, motionless. This was a huge victory on behalf of the Hooligans just now, executing one of the four prominent figures of the Mentranian regime, but the war was far from over, and most importantly, Hiccup's search for Astrid wasn't over either.


	31. Emergency summit

**CHAPTER 31: Emergency summit**

Hawkon, Fludgeon, and Gustav, the three of them meeting up together in a last-second summit, were all gathered for one specific reason; the unexpected capturing of Guddorn, the architect to the initial defence program involving a dragon deterrent, (which was destroyed by the Hooligans), but also Hawkon's right hand viking.

The single Mentranian boat that managed to sail back, the defenders who were able to survive and return home, had informed Hawkon of what happened to Guddorn and their failure of success.

The three prominent vikings were situated in a giant hall on Mentra, nearer to the borders of the island. Sat in front of the three were the defence force generals, the ones Hawkon would give his commands/orders to when it came to combat or war, and behind the Mentranian generals were regular defenders. The hall was packed, and there wasn't a single regular Mentranian viking here.

The paranoia of Hawkon was because of that. But his paranoia had just taken a surge due to the unexpected capture of Guddorn by the Hooligans.

"How did this happen?" the dictatorial youngster in Hawkon asked, as Fludgeon and Gustav sat on either side of him.

"Our armada came across those outcasts. Initially, we pushed them away and sent them retreating on the seas, but then we were completely taken off guard by the Hooligans flying onto our boats from their wing suits. In the end, they caused us quite the hassle, then the outcasts joined them, and then...they grabbed him, from what I could tell. We had already sailed away with the intent to return home at that point, so it was hard to see." the Mentranian armada captain said, sat amongst the generals.

"I just don't understand...Guddorn was an asset to us...his ethic...his competence...and once again, not a single one of you had the capability of fulfilling what should've been a straightforward mission, a crucial one, in this war, especially?"

"With all due respect, sir Hawkon, the loss of Guddorn shouldn't be thrown down to our feet entirely.." one of the generals echoed, as the regular defenders behind kept their heads down; they all wanted to avoid being executed on Hawkon's orders for the failure of Guddorn.

"I beg your pardon?" Hawkon questioned, surprised at the general talking back at him.

"You may be our leader, but you rely on us to defend Mentra. Therefore, our words matter as much as yours. Your lack of detail, your inability to grasp the aspects you should've picked up at the start..I think we can agree that you've led to this loss as well."

Subtle, silent gasps were seen scattered amongst the hundreds of regular defenders behind the generals in the hall. They were...actually giving attitude to the Mentranian leader. If that was a regular Mentranian or the low ranking defenders themselves, they'd have been executed or sent to an isolation camp by now.

"Just who do you think you are?"

"Forget the intimidation attempts, Hawkon..." the general uttered, having the audacity to call Hawkon by his name, not 'the father', or 'sir Hawkon' this time.

The Mentranian cult of personality had required EVERYONE to refer to the leader as their 'father' or 'sir', or even 'dear leader'. This was totally unprecedented for a defender general not to do so, but Hawkon wasn't backing down.

Fludgeon the Feared and Gustav Larson were both sat with pure dignity, looking straight in their expressions as if a split wasn't emerging between their leader and one of his generals.

"We've just lost one of our most competent leaders in this war, general, and here you are, attempting to undermine me. I'm sure you're fully aware of what happens on our great island, for those who betray me and seek to undermine me?" Hawkon said, leaning up on his chair, "there will be dire consequences awaiting you."

"We hold the combat experience. We hold the weapons. We are your keys to destroying our enemies, and to winning the war. But whilst you continuously inflict plans and missions upon us that border on being absurd, we struggle. With all due respect, sir, not once have you stepped out on the forefront. We are respectfully serving you, for we all share the same goal of conquering the Hooligans and their allies. But I need not remind you, that we laid down the gauntlet for our previous dear leader too."

"Laying down the gauntlet? you're clearly overestimating your powers here, general?" Hawkon chuckled, "are you trying to threaten me?"

"Of course not. Not yet. But as I've said already, take into account that we hold the keys to the success The Viking's Mentra is seeking to achieve in the war. Take into account we are the fighters. You may be our leader, but your father knew there were boundaries that we drew. We're simply holding you to account. We seek competence, much like you saw in Guddorn. His death was down to your incompetence, and I reiterate once again, in your long goal of victory, that should our island suffer significant losses under your watch, on a constant basis, we, in our positions, will have an obligation to act."

It's just as Blavery and Hiccup had discussed in the past, and was now coming to fruition; Guddorn's death has led to a questioning of Hawkon's leadership by the defender generals, and that was truly unprecedented in the Mentranian regime. Hawkon's father, when he was leader, knew that the generals had expected from him what he expected from them, so it could work both ways in terms of cooperation and unity; competence.

Guddorn's death to the generals was down to Hawkon's random, aimless plans he had provided on a constant basis. It was eventually going to lead to something like this.

"And let's be clear. The Mentranian vikings see you as their god, their saviour, and their father. Letting them down will only add to the consequences." the general defender uttered.

Hawkon was speechless. His own generals just now had threatened to topple him from power, if he supposedly continues to get his prominent Mentranian men killed during the war. There was now no question about it; Mentra was split right at the top, and that split was between Hawkon and his own generals, the exact men he relies on to carry out his upcoming plans and actions in the war against the Hooligans.

As Blavery said to Hiccup when they were discussing this happening in the event of Guddorn's death, the generals were the hard-liners in the regime; even though the leader held power, the generals, with their hard-line stances, kept the leader up to account. Whilst Hawkon's father accepted that, it seemed like Hawkon was outraged internally.

"But thus far, sir, Operation Catafly is sounding rather promising." the general said, completely reverting back to the type of language the cult of personality requires everyone on Mentra to use; to refer to the leader as 'sir', or any of the other things listed already, as if the brief exchange just now never happened.

"We have planned extensively for that." Hawkon said, and although he sounded relaxed, he really wasn't.

The anger was like a flame in him. The despot viking was now, in light of the verbal exchange he's just had with one of the Mentranian generals, keen on reinserting his power. How? that was already in his head, and it was for another time.

"Well men, Guddorn's capture and presumable death means we ought to make more advances." Hawkon uttered, his strong voice echoing out to the entirety of the hall, to the normal defenders all sat behind the generals.

"In the mean time, sir Hawkon, I ought to remind you of the progress on our construction of the numerous wing suits we'll need for Catafly." Fludgeon said, as the grey-haired Berserker Chieftan sat with a solemn demeanour, his eyes firmly focused onto Hawkon.

"That can be reviewed at some point. What areas have we not yet captured, gentlemen?" Hawkon said, trying to maintain a calm tone in his voice, from the rage rife in him from that verbal exchange with one of the generals.

"It is an unfortunate situation for us to have lost Guddorn, the architect of what could've been our dragon deterrent, before Hiccup and his tripe lot emerged and ruined it for us all, on dragon island," Gustav Larson said, the second-in-command of Mentra finally speaking up in the crucial summit, "speaking of which, I think we're very much in a position to retake that island."

Hawkon nodded at his second-in-command viking in Larson.

"Whilst we sailed the archipelago, father," a regular defender intervened, the generals moving out of his way so Hawkon could glance at the defender making the point, "we happened to stumble across a boiling, almost...tropical type of island whereby its rocks were reddish...taking over that could prove to be a beneficial thing for us, not only because we'll have thrown our weight onto the archipelago even more, but also...the pure heat of the water...it could possibly be used in some way?"

"He makes a valid point, sir Hawkon," Gustav uttered, using his memories of being amongst Hiccup & co to recall that island, "that island, if I'm remembering correctly, was one the dragons would always emerge to...during Snoggletog, the holiday celebrated by the Hooligans, to the utter cringe of ourselves, and essentially the island was the breeding grounds for the reptiles during that holiday."

"Hm. Then that'll be one of the ones we'll be taking." Hawkon nodded, still unable to calm himself internally.

"Supplies, in our whole overtaking of the archipelago, will be something we will have to improve on if we're wanting to succeed, as well." Fludgeon the Feared said, "as things stand, my men and our allies in your men, sir.." Fludgeon pointed to Hawkon, "are stretched out from the prison bay, or the edge as it used to be called, to the former island of the outcasts that our men now occupy...we have to get those supplies to the men quicker and more efficiently."

"Agreed." Gustav nodded.

"It takes us a whole week to go back and forth between the prisoner bay and Mentra, that appears to be the problem here." the general said.

"Very much so. But I've said on numerous occasions, we're working on the supplies situation. But we cannot distract ourselves with it in its entirety. We have to focus on defeating the Hooligans, we've already decapitated the wife of their chieftan, and if we can do that, we can most certainly defeat him and his allies, and take over his island subsequently as apart of our ultimate goal of 'Mega Mentra'."

"We need supplies, sir. Winning the war won't be as much of a walk as we're hoping without that situation improving." the general said.

"General, I advise you to listen. I'm not going to repeat myself."

Tensions were rife at the top of the Mentranian regime, between the leader and the generals. That wasn't good at all, because it meant Hawkon was facing scrutiny and humiliation he'd have never expected to come across, given how powerful he was in the regime. It was causing a troublesome thunder of paranoia in his head, which was why he wanted to deal with it sooner rather than later.

"So as things stand, men, and to everyone at the back, we are fully memorised with the current plan? we'll be retaking the island that the Hooligans initially took from us when they ruined our dragon deterrent program, we'll be making that other island that Larson's spoken about ours, and ultimately, we shall be reviewing our progress on the construction of the wing suits needed for Operation Catafly."

"Affirmative, father." the regular defenders nodded, where their chant echoed loudly in the hall.

The generals were the only ones who didn't respond. This wasn't good at all.

"And I suppose we ought to ensure we're all familiar with the secretive aspect of Catafly that'll lead to us getting onto 'New Berk' as their island is called, when the time comes for it?" Hawkon asked.

That part of the plan was still being kept under a top secret status within the regime, and in the overseers party of Mentra.

Throughout this whole summit, Hawkon & co have mentioned Guddorn's death with casual, formal tones and demeanour, which might be odd considering how much Hawkon admired Guddorn and everything he did with his competency for the benefit of Mentra, but ultimately, if somebody as high ranking as Guddorn is killed by the enemy, despite their efforts and their contributions, time couldn't be wasted on mourning them. The regime felt that it needed to move on, regardless of the significance of losing Guddorn, in a manner where it looked as if they didn't even care.

As the emergency summit, held due to Guddorn being captured and killed, a significant blow to the Mentranian regime, came to its conclusion, Hawkon wasn't going to let his humiliation go that easily. No way. He was, after all, from what we've seen of him, a despot.


	32. Hawkon's fury

**CHAPTER 32: Hawkon's fury**

The young despot in Hawkon wasn't finished venting out his anger at Guddorn's death. He was concluding that his death was pretty much an inevitable occurrence from the moment the failure of the armada happened on the seas.

However, Hawkon knew Guddorn very well, and if there was one thing the Mentranian leader could've hoped for, it was that Guddorn hadn't told the Hooligans of the status of Astrid before they killed him. The Hooligans not knowing whether she was alive or not was crucial in the grand plan the Mentranians had in mind.

Upon the legendary mountain in the middle of the island that used to house the Great Hall before it was demolished by the Mentranians when they first arrived on the island a decade ago, there was a medium-sized hut used as a backup 'bunker' type of location, and much like the underground, secretive base that Hawkon had used to meet up with Guddorn, Fludgeon and Gustav, before Guddorn's death, it was an area used to discuss militaristic plans and war tactics.

It was often delegated to the overseers party of Mentra, as a headquarters for the Mentranian vikings affiliated with the party, to hold meetings and so on. But for now, Hawkon was situated inside it. He had sent Fludgeon and Gustav away after the conclusion of the summit back at the hall, to continue with the war effort.

Hawkon came up here for one particular reason; to vent off his feelings and intentions to the general Mentranian viking who had spoken back at him during the summit before. The one who threatened 'action' if more losses had been obtained under Hawkon's leadership.

The building had wooden supports situated beneath it because of the terrain of the legendary mountain. Whoever was inside it was able to get a bird's eye view of the island and its village, in its entirely brown colouration from above. You could very clearly see the entirety of the wooden borders all around the front part of Mentra.

A 'lift' like contraption was often used to come up here, operated with a wooden platform and rope, whereby a viking at the top had winded a lever forwards or backwards depending on whether someone needed to go back down or up. It was precisely like what Hiccup and the Hooligans used at New Berk.

On one end of the wooden table was Hawkon, as the Mentranian leader papers of notes in front of him as he adjusted his shiny shoulder pieces of his viking gear. On the other end was that very same general. And as always, Hawkon had his own 'advisers' by his side wherever he want, and that was no different now. They were stood still, looking like mannequins in their entire black gear, along with black face masks made by dragon scales, like robbers.

"General, you know as well as I do just how important it is for us to unify and work together...why is it that none of our men and women are able to do that?" Hawkon asked, talking in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Wars require long term planning. Currently, sir, the only area that has long term planning is Operation Catafly. Everything else? I struggle to see it." the general replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"It isn't just Catafly, general. Our long term outcome of this whole thing, when we defeat the Hooligans and eradicate them and their children, is to turn this whole archipelago into Mega Mentra, extending the living space of our sovereign vikings to the various other islands around. We may even be able to utilise the island that those warlords, responsible for Grimmel, used to hold. From what I can tell, they haven't been seen for years now, particularly, for ten years, and I think we all know why."

"What I will say, sir, is that I genuinely commend our victory in capturing the wife of Hiccup Haddock, only to then subsequently execute her. But as I can understand, you want the Hooligans to think the opposite way?"

"We need them to think that she's still alive. The final parts of our grand plan require that. And I made it clear to Guddorn that her status has to be kept on the low down, should any unfortunate capturing happen during a battle or a mission. Knowing the guy, I'm under the impression that he wouldn't of revealed it to them." Hawkon nodded, constantly looking back up at the general as if there was something to be asked.

"You see, sir, that's the long term planning, and the clever planning we need. I haven't, as I said during the summit between yourself, our ally Chieftan and our second-in-command father, seen such planning for any of the invasions."

"We occupy Outcast Island, we've taken back the prisoner bay, or the edge, Berserker Island is within our grasp too, and we're going to shortly be invading a couple more islands. Soon, we will occupy the majority of the archipelago, for us to utilise when we reign in victory."

"Those all feel like stroke of lucks, sir. Long-term planning with the defenders means we will be ready for whatever outcome. It hasn't all been that successful in the past for us, when we've done short term plans."

"I've got a short term plan right now, actually, but I'll hold off on letting you know about it." Hawkon said, his expression suddenly turning solemn, and his voice slowly emerging into a whisper as he said that.

"Right. But that's not good. Guddorn would've been a tremendous asset for us, but I suppose our second father in Larson-"

"You don't call him Larson. Refer to him by his title, general. I let you get away with calling me informally back at the hall, you won't start making a habit out of doing that with our other respected vikings."

That took the general by surprise. The young, 20 year old dictatorial Mentranian leader seemed to be setting his foot down now.

"The second in command, our second, dear father," the general said, "will definitely make up for that loss, as will our Chieftan ally."

"Very much so. I didn't come up here with you to discuss our future plans, though, or even Catafly." Hawkon revealed, slowly standing up from his chair.

"Oh?"

"Oh indeed. Tell me, general, are you somebody who likes to do unprecedented things?" Hawkon asked, the masked 'advisers' walking up besides the dictator as he stood up and spoke.

"I don't follow?"

"I'm not my father, general. You should know that by now. What I do with my free power is what goes, no questions asked."

"What are you thinking, sir?" the general asked.

"And what comes with free power is ensuring that it isn't threatened. In this war effort, I need to maintain my influence over those vikings down there, and those defenders. You aren't going to threaten me and threaten to topple me because of me supposedly leading to our significant loss in Guddorn, and because I might potentially lead to those losses, both of which are absurd, outrageous claims."

It caught on with the general Mentranian. He slowly stood up, acknowledging he was in an isolated vicinity with the Mentranian leader, as those masked Mentranian vikings moved closer. They unveiled crossbows from under the table as Hawkon stared with blank eyes towards him.

"You can't do this to me, Hawkon?" the general suggested, as he raised his arms up in defence, "your father gave us these positions, you should be following in his footsteps, not purging your own top men. You really are a threat to Mentra's stability, aren't you?"

The gloves were now off as far as the general was concerned, in light of realising that he's going to be purged. He continued to move backwards with raised arms, as his eyes widened. Oddly enough, he wasn't begging for mercy.

"You will, all by yourself, lead to the collapsing of The Viking's Mentra sovereignty, the whole ideology will cease to exist, and when it does, the Hooligans will come back and take this land." the general stressed.

"Newsflash. I'm not my father, my father's dead, I'm the leader now. I refuse to be held to account for wanting to win by all means necessary. I will alone kill the Hooligans, we will conquer their island and cement our victory, I will turn Mentra into a whole archipelago subsequently, rather than keep it as just one single island, and nobody will tell me otherwise. And to the contrary, it's division-bringing vikings like YOU, not me, that lead to significant losses, like our loss of Guddorn to the Hooligans. Goodbye, general."

The masked Mentranian vikings besides Hawkon flung plenty of arrows from their crossbows, causing them to automatically step back a arrows flew with great precision towards the general, whereby the helpless 'ally' of the Mentranian leadership was impaled with numerous amounts of them, causing him to collapse and fall down back-first.

Every dictator purges their inner circle should that inner circle threaten his power, and Hawkon was no different. But purging your own side can lead to a bigger risk of splits and subsequent instability in regimes, and Mentra was now at the forefront of internal instability; the dictator has willingly purged one of his own generals, and if those purges become apparent to the overseers party and or the other leadership figures, the instability has the potential to grow and grow, until it's too much, before the regime and the cult of personality collapses.

The paranoia of Hawkon, because of him wanting to retain his power, especially during the war, has now led to the first of what could be many purges.

Hawkon's implication that his father being dead means he doesn't have to follow in his footsteps was also significant. When vikings across the archipelago say Hawkon is much more militaristic and extremist than his father, they're more than right, and that's what Hiccup & co are dealing with.

A young dictatorial despot viking who doesn't even think highly of his dead father anymore, who initially groomed Hawkon himself for the leadership during his time leading Mentra. By all means necessary, Hawkon said, and by all means necessary he truly means.

* * *

Hundreds and hundreds of regular Mentranian vikings, from the children, to the women, to the men, were all gathered in front of the statue of their old leader in Hawkon's father, because in front of that statue was their current leader in Hawkon. Some were 'crying' tears of joy at seeing Hawkon, some were cheering, and some were literally fighting with each other to get as close as possible to Hawkon.

All of this, of course, because of the cult of personality enforced. Hawkon was here to make a speech not only to reinforce his status following the purge he had undertaken some time ago, but also to reinforce his overall power and authority. The regular Mentranian vikings shaking with joy and jumping, screaming, and cheering, were precisely what was expected of them for their leader.

"AND LET ME TELL YOU ALL...OUR GREAT SOVEREIGN ISLAND WILL GO ON TO CRUSH OUR ENEMIES. ENEMIES THAT SEEK TO DIVIDE US, THAT SEEK TO DESTROY US, AND SEEK TO PUT US BACK INTO IMPRISONMENT." Hawkon yelled, as he was surrounded by a bunch of advisers, guarding him, as he stood directly in front of the statue of his father, on an elevated bit of terrain, where there was a distance between himself and the cheering crowds of Mentranians.

The regular Mentranians were either cheering, screaming, or chanting for their leader, all the while sweating, and subtly starving for food, due to the regime undergoing food shortages to feed its defenders. But the regulars here had no choice. They'd instantly be sent to the isolation camps if they were doing anything other than praising, cheering, or screaming for their leader, regardless of how hungry they were.

"THE HOOLIGANS WILL BE CRUSHED! THEY WILL NEVER TAKE OUR ISLAND, AND WHEN IT'S ALL SAID AND DONE, OUR SOVEREIGNTY WILL EXTEND BEYOND THESE WATERS, WHEREBY YOUR LIVING SPACE WILL EXPAND! LET OUR GREAT ISLAND REIGN IN VICTORY, AGAINST THE HOOLIGANS, AND ALL OUR ENEMIES!" Hawkon cried, sounding like a determined patriot in his manly, strong, yelling voice.

"**AGAINST OUR ENEMIESS!**" the regular Mentranians cried out subsequently.

They were all 'crying', cheering, or screaming as they struggled in the sweat-producing, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd they were all in. Some of them were pretending, just for their lives, and some were genuinely doing it as a means of every-day life under the Mentranian regime, even including the hunger they had; it's all been normalised for the group of Mentranian regular vikings who think like that.

Regardless, they had no choice just now, all down to the cult of personality and the regime's strict policies that needed to be followed by the regular vikings.


	33. Wing suit construction

**CHAPTER 33: Wing suit construction**

A single, bigger boat than usual, was approaching Berserker Island. This boat looked much more 'royal', in that it was not only bigger, it also had a lot more colouration to it. Primarily, white and black amongst the brown wood of it. Its sail was black, and on the top of it had a bunch of Mentranian defenders staring out, in a guarding formation of some sorts.

A huge gathering of Berserker vikings emerged towards the shores of the island as this boat came to make a gentle stop on said shores. Fludgeon the Feared was specifically here, amongst the Berserkers, many of whom carried steel, mirror-like battleaxes of a giant size, whereby they stood all around Fludgeon in their massive numbers, awaiting for this huge wooden boat to make a gentle collision.

Their bull-like spikes on their helmets, made entirely of metal, portrayed an intimidating appearance on behalf of the Berserkers themselves. They had metal shoulder pads as their gear somewhat resembled Hiccup's old style of clothing when he was a teenager in terms of colouration, that colouration being the case for the rest of the Berserkers, apart from Fludgeon.

The boat had made a slow, swift turn so its front faced the left. It took over 5 minutes for this to happen, but the Berserkers were more than patient for it. The big vikings, and allies of Mentra, had halted their collective discussions and voices echoing all over the air in their big groups, the second the door-shaped hatch for the boat opened.

Emerging out of the hatch were a couple of masked Mentranian vikings, whereby the two of them leapt to the side in formation, and stood with their backs facing the direction of the hatch. Subsequently coming out of it was none other than the Mentranian leader in Hawkon the Second.

Fludgeon the Feared started walking towards the hatch as Hawkon came out; the two top vikings of their respective types held their hands out to one another and shook with sincere expressions, and smirks.

"Great to see you, Fludgeon." Hawkon said, smirking with genuine approval towards his in-pact ally.

"Likewise, sir Hawkon. The men are all honoured to meet you, for the first time ever, on our island." Fludgeon proudly declared, the Berserker Chieftan looking out to his men as they nodded at Hawkon with respect.

"I have to say, your island has...tons of rocky pillars within the waters." Hawkon chuckled, pointing to one of the rocky pillars that almost resembled platforms at the top of them, just a bit out to the seas from here.

"In a way, our islands bear resemblance. Look at our spikier mountain in the middle, much like Mentra has a mountain, albeit your island's mountain is thicker..." Fludgeon said, pointing to Berserker Island's main mountain, whereby the greenness of the grass shone through the distance as clear as day.

The mountain of Berserker Island was of course surrounded by numerous other mountains, and a couple of rocky overhangs and pillars that intertwined with one another, like a disfigured bit of terrain. But Berserker Island nonetheless housed plenty of space and vikings suitable towards the war effort against the Hooligans.

"So I had sent you back here, Fludgeon, to ready up the unveiling of the progress of our wing suit constructions for Catafly?" Hawkon asked.

Fludgeon and Hawkon both started walking shoulder by shoulder, as their respective vikings formed a surrounding around the two, intending on keeping a firm guarding of safety around them, given their significant statuses.

"Your men and my men have had the biggest exposure of work ethic, sir. The numbers game won't even remotely be a concern once you get a glance of our ongoing, and nearly completed, suits." Fludgeon declared.

"With the overseers party back at the island, my island, constructing the other half of the gear we'll need, I can imagine you've led quite the construction site here." Hawkon said, proudly smirking at Fludgeon.

Not a single mentioning of the purge that had occurred on Hawkon's behalf at all. What was more interesting as well was that Hawkon was acting like such a purge had never happened; just notice his demeanour and tone with Fludgeon. Maybe it's the case that Hawkon's much more relaxed and less paranoid, now that he's disposed of the general who had threatened to topple him, and that he's now alongside his in-pact ally, whereby their alliance had the Berserkers propping up the Mentranian regime in order to keep it alive, and to prevent the Hooligans from ever taking the island back.

* * *

The crowd of Berserkers, following firmly Fludgeon and Hawkon as they arrived at a giant wooden building, the building the Berserkers had constructed on their island a few years ago, for any sort of equipment creating, or smithing, or general weaponry. The building, amongst its shiny wooden structure, had a few bits of moss on the corners, giving it an ancient vibe and appearance, even though it was still relatively new.

Given that it was basically right out in the open of Berserker Island, it was all the more surprising that it had the appearance of a rotting, abandoned building. Nonetheless, it's been put to significant use by the Berserkers as of late.

Hawkon and Fludgeon stopped at the giant wooden door in front of them. As Fludgeon walked up to the door to push it open gently, he turned to Hawkon, as all the Berserkers behind the Mentranian leader remained in place and totally formal.

"The numbers are significant, sir Hawkon. Come on in with us to take a look." the Berserker Chieftan said, as he gently pushed the door open.

Revealing a gigantic hall, with massive rows of wooden tables consisting of Berserker vikings, with nothing but construction gear in their palms, Hawkon slowly stepped inside, as Fludgeon followed afterwards. The crowd of Berserkers were all informed that they had to stay outside, for this meeting between Fludgeon and Hawkon was basically a private one, due to its significance.

But it wasn't private really, considering that they were right within the vicinity of numerous other vikings, but oh well.

Hawkon, widened eyes and all, glared across the hall as he turned his head gradually and slowly into every direction he could look in; on the tables he could make out black, scaly-looking tops being pelted against with equipment by the Berserkers working on them, and the whole hall had nothing but banging, the smashing of nails and equipment, and footsteps echoing all throughout it.

As Hawkon, proudly watching on, started walking towards the middle of the construction hall, besides Fludgeon the Feared, the entire hall stopped what it was doing, in order to pay respect not just towards their Chieftan in Fludgeon, but also the Mentranian leader in Hawkon.

Fludgeon's robes, looking similar to the ones worn by Grimmel, had always provided him with that look of authority, and the notion that he wasn't somebody to be messed with, and that was especially the case from the view of the Berserkers themselves. Hawkon was much younger looking, given he was only 20, but his gear had prompted a sense of importance, from the metal shoulder pads, the significantly larger-looking viking helmet, just everything.

Hawkon was the only one in the hall who had a little logo of his father's face on his top gear, and that unique element had provided him with an even bigger notion of importance to the Berserkers, because that was due to the cult of personality his regime followed. The Berserkers, and Fludgeon himself, didn't need to follow the cult of personality, so they didn't have those little logos. But still, it gave Hawkon a unique impression.

In short, the appearances of the two top men in the hall had prompted a sense of importance.

Hawkon started studying the tables as he walked past the numerous sat-down Berserkers. He stopped at one table in particular where he had the opportunity to shake hands with one of the builder Berserkers.

"Sir Hawkon..." the Berserker happily saluted.

"Keep up the good work, friend." Hawkon nodded, as he held his hand out to shake the Berserker's palm, to which the Berserker proudly did so.

"Resume your work, gentlemen." Fludgeon declared to the hall, as Hawkon positioned himself besides him again.

At that, the entire hall once again contained echoes of smashing things, objectives, across its entirety as the Berserkers resumed their construction work of the needed wing suits.

"I have to say...I'm thoroughly impressed with this." Hawkon nodded, unable to contain his smile.

"So you should be, sir. Look at our work ethic within this place..." Fludgeon said, glaring across the entire hall.

Those long rows of tables, sat on by numerous Berserkers with scaly-looking tops and man-made wings in front of them, looked super busy. Their heads were facing downwards towards the tables for long periods of time that they looked like statues; that was just how focused and determined they were in creating the maximum amount of wing suits for their Mentranian viking allies.

"I have to say, Fludgeon, we're more than capable of Catafly, even though we're not quite to the point of ratifying it all for action." Hawkon nodded.

"I understand, sir, that you'll be wanting to take more islands around the archipelago, adding to the ones that we, as an alliance, already occupy?" Fludgeon asked, as he and Hawkon remained in the middle of the busy hall.

"Yes. Primarily for the war effort, and to provide my vikings with more living space when we succeed in victory against the Hooligans. If we turn a good chunk of the archipelago into our own territory in a short period of time, it'll be harder for those Hooligans and Outcasts to make a comeback against us." Hawkon said, crossing his arms.

"My men, whilst on the seas patrolling the direction towards the home island of the Hooligans, had intercepted two different islands, both of which looked vacant. The nearer we take over to the home island of the Hooligans, the bigger advantage we'll have in the end. And given that we've lost a valiant companion in Guddorn, I'm going to assume you'll want us to 'sweep up' more of the archipelago, including those two islands?" Fludgeon said.

"Explain their physical appearances, so we can draw up a plan on doing that. Our strength has been stable, so I'll order for those to be invaded pronto." Hawkon nodded.

"The first one...had grass, obviously, and woodlands. It was pretty hilly, and it contained quite a few big waterfalls, from what we could see. We're expecting there to be a foreign tribe of some sorts, and we weren't going to attack somewhere without the order to do so."

"Waterfalls...woodlands...very well, I'll be sure to take notes of that. And the other?"

"The second one had a coast completely cornered off by towers of boulders, alongside thick streams of water. From what we could tell, it too seemed to be forested, but again, whether or not a tribe lives on there, that was unknown to us."

"Two extra lands of living space for my vikings, and potentially yours, for when we reign in victory, are always crucial." Hawkon nodded, the despot eager to invade those two islands right away.

As Hawkon was about to walk, Fludgeon gently grabbed him by the shoulder, the despot taken aback by that grab just now, but Fludgeon had a good reason for it.

"It isn't just those two islands, sir. One extra island, which does, from past experience, have a tribe on it, is pretty much free for us to conquer. It's called Caldera Cay. You ever heard of it?" Fludgeon asked Hawkon.

The mentioning of another tribe to take over and imprison seemed to excite Hawkon, as the despot viking's eyes widened, and his whole face as a whole seemed to become more focused with a precise, solemn expression.

"I have not. But another tribe? the more foreigners conquered and eliminated, the better. What do you know of it?"

"A bit of a backstory, sir. The snowflake in Dagur, our previous Chieftan before we had to dispose of him due to his sympathy with the Hooligans, had a wife by the name of Mala, ruling over Caldera. Fortunately for me, when the time came to dispose of Dagur, she had joined him by his side, leaving the island she had ruled over, for a 'temporary' amount of time, as she had put it to her tribe at the time. Let's just say, that as I took care of Dagur, she wasn't exactly lucky herself."

"Oh my, good job, Fludgeon, absolutely good job." Hawkon said.

"So here's the situation: Caldera hasn't had their 'Queen' as she referred to herself, for years. They probably installed a new monarchy leader or Chieftan some time ago. We can take over it, rid it of that tribe, whereby their so-called, now former, 'queen' had a connection with Dagur, and that'll be a third island conquered on our efforts." Fludgeon the Feared nodded.

"Whilst we continue to finalise Operation Catafly, it'll be important, in light of hearing that, that we expand upon the isolation camps. We'll need more of them, and I think we ought to toughen our treatment of the foreigners at this point, given how many we'll be taking in after we've taken over these new islands. More Labour perhaps, for the foreigner children of those tribes." Hawkon said.

"I'd have told you about Caldera in particular, at an earlier point sir," Fludgeon said, "but it wasn't until my men intercepted those two other islands that it came back into my head."

Fludgeon and Hawkon both began walking towards the big large door of the hall again, as the Berserkers continued on with their construction of the wing suits Mentra and the Berserkers will need for Operation Catafly.

"Consider those three down for a 'visit'. Thank you, Fludgeon, and thank you for showing me the progress your men have made here today. We're going to create a unified archipelago at the end of this, once we've killed all of our enemies, and have won this war." Hawkon proudly said.


	34. Invading Dragon Island

**CHAPTER 34: Invading Dragon Island**

Now back on Mentra after sailing back from Berserker Island, Hawkon was chairing a secretive meeting within the overseers party's hall, where a long wooden table, resembling half a circle, consisted of Hawkon himself right in the middle, with Gustav Larson sat besides him.

The hall itself was situated, to no surprise, within a secretive vicinity of the island. The overseers party of Mentra was a crucial element, ever since it was formed, in the running and the maintaining of the Mentranian viking regime, so naturally, it needed its headquarters positioned out of the path and perspective of all the regular Mentranian vikings.

Hawkon was chairing this particular meeting between himself and his governing body of the Mentranian regime because he wanted to ratify his orders of the invasions of; the two new islands that Fludgeon had spoken of, and that Caldera Cay that Fludgeon had also spoken of. Those invasions were going down today.

"First of all, folks, I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation here today. We cannot be complacent, and we cannot relax at all, however. The war is still ours to win, and by the time Catafly comes by, we'll have to be at our best and at the top of our motivation levels. Our defenders are still occupying the current islands we still hold, and the purpose of this meeting today is for me to ratify the orders to give to the defenders, for three invasions of different islands." Hawkon nodded, placing his hands together on the table, together, almost in a circle shape as he spoke.

"Larson, given your past with the Hooligans, when you used to be with them, you ought to know about the first two islands? I gave you a physical description of them before we came down here to this meeting." Hawkon said, completely leading the agenda of the meeting as he turned to Gustav.

The Mentranian vikings affiliated with the overseers party were already taking notes on the papers in front of themselves, as Hawkon and Gustav both started communicating with each other.

"I've had a long think about it, father. A very long think, in fact. And in doing so, I think I've now recalled those two islands that you two spoke of. The descriptions rang a bell to me." Larson said, as he too placed his hands on the table in a circle shape as he spoke.

"One of those islands...you said had a very...well, our ally said, it had a very...shiny looking waterfall? that reminds me of Friga Island. The Hooligans once travelled there, but only that one time. The other island...our ally said it had towers of boulders covering its front coast? that reminds me of Changewing Island...Changewing, sir, is actually a species of dragon. But given that all of those reptiles retreated to The Hidden World on Hiccup's command ten years ago...I doubt there'll be anymore Changewings there."

"And in terms of any tribes...can we expect any?" Hawkon asked.

The other vikings on the half circle-shaped wooden table continued taking their notes.

"No. Those two islands are as dead as Grimmel. They'll be easy gains on our behalf, sir."

"We appreciate your contribution, second father." one of the overseers party Mentranian vikings uttered, from the left side of the long table.

"It's all for our benefit, fellow colleague. Now I believe, sir Hawkon, there was a third island due to be invaded?" Gustav asked.

"Caldera Cay. Fludgeon told me, however, that it's actually an island consisting of a dormant volcano. But assuming it stays dormant, we should be successful in taking it. And contrary to the above islands we've just mentioned, this one DOES have a foreigner tribe living on it still." Hawkon said, looking on both sides of the wide, long wooden table consisting of the overseers party.

"Sir, if there's a tribe on there, the armada will have to be significantly larger." one Mentranian viking said, on the other side of the table.

"Indeed. But they're a tribe who's been without their main 'queen' as she once called herself, for some time now, which is a huge benefit for us. They probably installed another Chieftan or...I don't know, monarchy leader, whatever they do over there, but it won't be a match for us. We'll take them and their island and once again obtain a new piece of territory for our living space expansion when we defeat the Hooligans." Hawkon declared.

"Defenders of the Wing is their tribe name, sir Hawkon, I don't know if my memory's playing with me, though." Gustav added.

"They won't be defenders any longer, we can be certain of that." Hawkon chuckled.

"So, sir, we'll be ready to ratify these plans under your permission. Are you sure that the defenders are well equipped to undertake these invasions, all today?" one Mentranian overseers party affiliate asked.

"We have our allies in the Berserkers to assist us, so our defenders are more than equipped. I've also agreed on the plans to retake that Dragon Island, that we initially lost to the Hooligans, whereby they destroyed our in-process dragon deterrent program at the time. I also want us to take over that steamy island that somebody...I can't remember who it was, referred to it with the name 'Rookery'. So we're looking at five island invasions today, which're all achievable given the competence of our defenders and our war effort." Hawkon said.

The overseers party meeting was now drawing to a close. After a quick writing of notes, one viking affiliate to the overseers party asked the crucial question.

"Are these the green lights you're giving us to ratify the invasion plans, sir?" he asked Hawkon, but also looking at Gustav, given he was the second most powerful viking in the regime, but it was Hawkon who had the final say over these crucial decisions.

"They are indeed. They can now be ratified and signed off." Hawkon proudly declared.

At that, Mentra's intention to invade more islands, in light of Guddorn's death, was official. The war was about to get much more complex for the Hooligans.

* * *

The armada sailed its way towards Dragon Island, as mist surrounded the entirety of the seas as they neared it. Once again, a mixture of Berserkers and Mentranians had been sent within the armada.

Without the leadership of Guddorn, the armada was mainly down to the captain of it, to guide it. But given the Hooligans had no longer occupied this upcoming island, not much effort needed to be put in. But it was vital for the Mentranians to hold onto this island with a tighter grip, rather than letting it slip out of their occupation like it did initially when the Hooligans arrived here before destroying the defence program.

"Steady now. We're about to get right within it." the captain Mentranian uttered, as he started making out one gigantic, rocky cliff amongst the cloudy, pale mist.

At long last, the armada had sailed its way through the mist. It was now situated within a short distance from the rocky shores of Dragon Island. The rocky pillar overhangs that intertwined, the volcanic-looking cliff in the middle, the hundreds of broken pebbles situated on the ground of the island, had all became very apparent. The white, misty atmosphere had added to the boring feeling that was being emitted from the place.

But the fact they were now going to re-occupy the island was the most important thing to them. As the boats started slowing down, the captain turned to the boats situated in groups behind his own.

"WE'RE ABOUT TO MAKE LAND. AS SOON AS WE HIT IT, WE'LL JUMP ON AND SCAN THE PLACE FOR ANY FOREIGNERS OR HOOLIGANS!"

A few minutes had passed, and now, the rumblings of collective sprints and footsteps had became rife on the island, the very island that used to house the Red Death. Those rumblings and footsteps had all came from the Berserkers and Mentranians, spreading themselves out, weapons in hand, quickly overtaking the ground of the island as they searched for any 'foreigners' or Hooligans.

"So far, captain, we seem to be in the clear." one Mentranian viking had uttered to the captain, as the majority of the armada had emptied itself out onto the island at this point.

"We must tighten our grip on this island, to a much higher strength than what we had previously." the captain stressed.

"We will, sir. The father will want that. But I'll tell you one thing; as I patrolled and searched the island for any left over Hooligans or foreigners, my group and I had came across the dead dragons that we had initially captured in order to collect their eggs for our deterrent program with phase one. Turns out this island isn't all that 'empty' after all." he chuckled.

"The dragon deterrent was called off, it was called off when it became clear we had to seek war with the Hooligans, but the thought of all of those reptiles laying dead on this island...that alone is going to illustrate our new found occupying strength on here."

"Indeed, sir. We may no longer be pursuing our defence program, but dead dragons are always beneficial for us at times like these." the Mentranian defender said, as he and the captain chuckled, as the rest of the armada continued to invade and overtake the grounds of the island.

Mentra has now taken back Dragon Island, adding to its growing list of occupied islands over the Barbaric Archipelago. Much more were to come, in light of Guddorn's death, and thus far, it seemed like nothing could stop them.


	35. Taking the Rookery

**CHAPTER 35: Taking the Rookery**

Rookery Island. The mating grounds for the dragons, the grounds that they used to come to whenever it was Snoggletog. The place was obviously notable for the situation involving Hiccup and Toothless during Berk's first ever Snoggletog with dragons at the time, where Hiccup roamed on the warm, copper-looking, hard terrain of the island, surrounded by shiny, almost green, and transparent steamy water, looking for Toothless.

This island was littered with valuable situations like that one. Sure, it was just a regular, rocky island surrounded by steamy water that the dragons came to, but it's got a connected history with the Hooligans, because when all of the dragons 'left', at the time, during the first ever Snoggletog with their vikings, it turned out to be the case that they had all arrived upon Rookery Island.

When Hiccup had arrived back at Berk on the night that had followed, when he was given a ride by Hookfang back to Berk, and when Hiccup himself had successfully came up with a plan to transfer all of the babies of the dragons from the island to Berk, the Snoggletog gathering inside the Great Hall that had followed was one of the best nights he had ever had.

The feeling of being reunited with Toothless and the dragons, the dragons themselves scattered all across the Great Hall as everyone celebrated and drank/ate their typical Snoggletog foods and drinks, and just the 'party-ish' atmosphere, Hiccup still hadn't forgotten about how fun that night was. That was five years before the situation with Drago had arisen. Life on Berk at the time, as a young teenager for Hiccup, with Toothless, was stress-free and ultimately, a dream come true every day, and that Snoggletog night where Toothless had found Hiccup's helmet, was an example of why life at the time was so stress-free and good.

The very island that had been involved in that situation, Rookery Island, was no longer packed with dragons, not even when it was Snoggletog for the Hooligans on New Berk. The dragons had obviously left for The Hidden World.

But it wasn't just that, that had made the Rookery Island a totally different place nowadays from how it was all those years ago, when Hiccup was a teenager, and Stoick was alive; the other fact was that now, it was under threat, from a gradually growing viking regime of fanatics, intent on conquering the whole archipelago, island by island.

The Mentranians and Berserkers were going to invade Rookery first, before moving onto the other island invasions that the overseers party had ratified.

We might recall the above, and the memories of that Snoggletog years ago when Hiccup was a teenager, but the Mentranian regime and its defenders, in their pursue of victory and archipelago unification, were intent on totally wiping out the history aligned with the archipelago, including the history aligned with the Rookery. Gustav, the second-in-command viking of the regime, knew all about its history, and how Toothless and Hiccup had a feel-good moment in the Great Hall that night, when Toothless had returned with Hiccup's helmet.

On that basis, they wanted to absolutely wipe the whole archipelago clean of any history or alignment with the Hooligans, and that was just one part of their motivation for the invasion of the archipelago. Rookery Island, and its history, in terms of it being the island Hiccup was 'kidnapped' to by Meatlug on that day, was fully known to Gustav. They wanted to wipe all of those occurrences clean from the past, for when the regime eventually, in the event of victory in the war, expands its living space to the rest of the archipelago for its vikings.

The armada had sailed firmly through the seas and the waves, as the numerous boats looked to arrive to Rookery Island as apart of the invasion plans laid down firmly by Hawkon and the overseers party.

"We're just looking for a copper looking island of rock." a Mentranian armada captain uttered, as he kept a clear look out of the open seas ahead.

"The air is supposed to be slightly warmer there, or whatever." one Mentranian said, as he stood besides the captain.

"That'll be beneficial for us. It'll make it easier for us to fully conquer the heap of rock."

Some minutes had passed, and now, the Mentranian armada had came within a sighting distance of Rookery Island, and the seas below had notably turned from blue, to an ever so subtle green.

"There it is. The heap of rock we've been looking for." the captain pointed, as he waved to the other boats behind his own, wanting to get the armada into the same direction as his boat was going.

"THERE IT IS, GENTS!" one Mentranian yelled, as a couple of Berserkers had readied themselves up for arriving at the island.

"The warm heap of rock we've been looking for is about to come into our hands, what do you say?" the Mentranian viking captain uttered, taking out a wooden telescope to glare right towards Rookery Island.

"It only takes our might to get what we want, but luckily for us, there's no sort of force or tribe to be dealt with-"

"Hold that thought, buddy. I'm seeing a couple of wings move about over there. SLOW YOUR MOVEMENTS, I REPEAT, SLOW YOUR MOVEMENTS!" the captain yelled, quickly sprinting to the end part of his boat to echo his command to the rest of the armada.

"THERE'S SOME DRAGONS ON THERE! HALT YOUR MOVEMENTS RIGHT NOW!" he yelled.

The Mentranian armada captain was keen to get the armada into a state where it could approach Rookery Island in a stealthy manner, as to not get the immediate attention of those dragons on the island.

The captain quickly rushed back to the front of the boat, and he took out his telescope to glare through it once again.

"What's the plan, sir?"

"We'll all remain ducked down in our boats, so our whole armada...looks like a collection of abandoned boats sailing past. Those dragons won't know any better, they're that weak minded. You got your crossbow at the ready?"

"Aye."

"Good, because we may have to do some quick manoeuvring here." the captain declared.

As the captain looked into his telescope as the whole armada sailed slowly, with each viking on each respective boat adjusting their sails to get in line with the wind so their speed could be decreased, he sighted the copper-coloured island itself. The half-circle shape of the island, the big pillars of rock that had resembled towers, the steaming, green waters in the middle, were all within the glaring sight of the captain through his telescope.

The water in the middle of the island looked awfully clear in the midst of its green, steaming colouration. Nonetheless, the captain and his armada of Mentranians and Berserkers, in their route to unifying the archipelago in the war, were looking to approach the island with a stealthy entrance. Their rocky, yet steady boats were nearing Rookery Island by the minute, so it was only a short matter of time until they physically arrived.

"Steady on a second...those dragons happen to be rather medium sized." the captain observed, being able to take a glance of their size through his telescope due to the armada closing in on the island.

"What does that mean for us, sir?"

"It means that we could probably catch them by surprise, we run up to them and land on top of them, to keep them in position. But we'll have to see what the circumstances are, when we're actually on the island itself."

Just to think, the island that Hiccup was taken to by Meatlug, during Berk's first ever Snoggletog with the dragons at the time, was about to be engulfed by the fanatics of Mentra.

The two dragons appeared to be Monstrous Nightmares, not fully grown up. It was weird that they were still here, given that they _should've_ left for The Hidden World all those years ago. It must be the case that there're still dragons out and about in the open environment of the archipelago, just not as many perhaps, as there used to be.

Five more minutes had passed, and now, the whole armada was within a physical presence of the island. The captain and his fellow Mentranian were the first ones to depart from their boats, and instantly, they had knelt down and remained crouched as they looked to take on the dragons from behind. They were clearly mates, the two Monstrous Nightmares.

The captain, in his crouched position, had quietly turned around to the open, steamy waters of the island, where the armada was, whereby the other Mentranians and Berserkers were still on their boats. He waved his palms left and right, gesturing for them to stay put for the time being.

"Come on." the captain whispered to the Mentranian viking besides him, as he equipped his crossbow.

"This rock is...oddly...warm, it's like there's lava beneath us." the Mentranian observed, as he crouched and sneaked around the island, out of the eye sight of the two Monstrous Nightmares.

"Just imagine what that green, pale water would be like." the captain whispered.

"I can see why this place used to be the...uh, I think our second father said it was the mating grounds of the dragons, or it used to be? I can see why it'd be, it's so warm..it's like it's summer."

"It won't be any mating ground after today. We're going to install those giant, border crossbows we've got on our island, to prevent any dragons coming back here, so we can fully take it for ourselves." the captain declared, "get ready, we're going to get those two reptiles from behind."

The two fanatical vikings continued their stealthy crouching around the island and its rocky structures. The two Monstrous Nightmares were actually sleeping together at this point. Their wings had initially lifted upwards into the air, enough for the captain to have initially observed their presence from the seas just now.

Another few minutes had passed, and the two fanatical vikings were directly behind the resting Monstrous Nightmares; their long tails, their overall body structure, and their intimidating facial structures, where their teeth had stuck out from their lower mouth segment, had been easily identified by the two, but still, this was their time to make their mark.

"Alright, if they put up a fight, you've got the venomous arrows, we'll simply knock em out." the captain declared.

"Aye, sir, it's ready to go."

"When we land onto them and grip them by their necks, the rest of the guys will rush onto the island so we can fully cement it as ours."

"Ready when you are, sir."

"Alright."

The captain began counting down, as he and the other Mentranian viking readied up to leap onto the respective sleeping Monstrous Nightmares.

"One...two...THREE!" he yelled, as the two, at the exact same time, ran forwards and leapt over the tails of the sleeping Monstrous Nightmares, startling them and causing the medium-sized dragons to awaken.

They gripped the snake-like, scaly neck of the two Monstrous Nightmares as they rapidly shook their heads left and right, and tried to flick their tails up at the two vikings on top of them, but their smaller, medium size meant they weren't effective at all. They yelped, and continued to struggle, but the weight of the vikings had overwhelmed their ability.

"YOU GOT EM?!" the captain yelled, as he gripped his two palms around the scaly, snake-structured neck of the Monstrous Nightmare he was on.

"IT'S...NOT...STAYING STILL..." the Mentranian struggled, as his Monstrous Nightmare growled and flicked its head up, often causing the Mentranian to nearly lose his grip on the neck of the dragon.

The dragon started blowing flames from its mouth, as it roared and growled, as its pupils shrunk in pure rage. It flicked its spikes and its tails all up into the air, trying to get the Mentranian off; meanwhile, the Monstrous Nightmare the captain was on, had seemingly surrendered already. The captain was, after all, sat on the neck of the dragon, and he had a firm, tight grip of the dragon's mouth to keep it shut; the Mentranian didn't have such a grip.

"FIRE IT, FIRE IT QUICK!" the captain yelled.

The Mentranian nodded. He placed his crossbow down so it was directly touching the neck of the struggling Monstrous Nightmare, and he flung the wooden trigger. The arrow pelted through the Monstrous Nightmare's scaly neck, and straight away, the entirety of the dragon turned motionless.

"Good job, good job. This one here's being a rather good reptile." the captain chuckled.

Their small size was a clear disadvantage to them, and now, the Monstrous Nightmare that was being held down via its neck and its mouth, by the captain sitting on it, didn't have the energy to fight back, and having just seen its mate be knocked out from the pelting of an arrow from these...hostile vikings, it didn't want to suffer the same fate; how intelligent was that thinking, for a wild dragon?

The armada had began unloading from the boats; the numerous Mentranians and Berserkers began rumbling their way all over Rookery Island, in light of the captain and the other Mentranian neutralising the two wild dragons just now.

"Here come the men. I think we ought to have a spare arrow with that venom made for us by the overseers party, huh? give this little dragon here beneath me a taste of it, so we can give ourselves a breather."

As the two vikings chuckled at that prospect, and as the Mentranians and Berserkers unloaded from the armada of boats ahead, arriving onto the copper-coloured island, the Monstrous Nightmare tightly and harshly gripped to the ground let off a yelp, a saddened, squeaking yelp, and its eyes had generally decreased.

Its mate was just killed, and now, it could sense that it was about to be given the same fate. The dragon continued to yelp in sadness and fear, only to the pure amusement of the two vikings in the captain and the Mentranian themselves.

The tiniest shine of a tear came in a subtle manner, rushing down the deadly-looking, medium-sized Monstrous Nightmare, as it took a side-eye glance towards its collapsed mate, and as it could hear more vikings emerge onto the island. Yes, it was crying.

The chuckles and cheers kept emerging though, from the vikings, as they arrived. The captain had heard the yelping of the dragon, but it had only motivated his drive to get the war won and to cement this island as a future land of living for the Mentranian vikings.


	36. Invading Friga Island

**CHAPTER 36: Invading Friga Island**

The armada had set sail a long time ago from Mentra. The captain and his vikings on the armada had been given the direction and the physical description of Friga Island, so they were well on their way to it. They were specifically looking out for the waterfalls, due to them being a huge aspect of Friga Island, one aspect that distinguishes it from the other islands thus far.

As the armada sailed carefully and slowly on the calm-to-steady ocean waters as the air filled up with the scent of seaweed, the Berserkers on the armada sharpened up their axes and their general weaponry, for they and the Mentranians were expecting some sort of foreign viking tribe to be on the island.

"It's come to a remarkable set of events, that we have been able to succeed in the face of Hooligan force." one Mentranian pointed out, standing besides the captain of the armada.

"What force are you speaking of, my boy? in our intentions of unifying this archipelago, island by island, we have yet to witness this so called force." the Mentranian viking captain said, keeping his wooden telescope within his palms.

"They have...uh, well, their Chieftan in Hiccup Haddock, seems to hold some valuable accolades to his name. And yet those accolades don't appear to be resembling the legendary, competent, historic figure in terms of leadership that we've come to hear about."

"That's because he's still a young boy. Hiccup Haddock, our main enemy, as are his Hooligans and Outcast tribes, once ruled over our great island by the name of 'Berk'. A fake, illegitimate form of leadership, where he annexed the island at the time for his own benefit. That's why he destroyed our dragon deterrent program and made it clear he wanted war with us, that's why he supposedly claims that The Viking's Mentra is still his island, not ours, and that it is still under the false, invalid name of Berk. How wrong he is. He wants to take back an island that was never his, or his father's to begin with." the captain strongly uttered, in full patriotic support of Hawkon's leadership.

"I'm not for a moment fearing him, sir. I agree with all of that. As a matter of fact, he may be our number one benefit in this war, by proving to be such a cowardly, reluctant, and incompetent viking Chief for his Hooligan scum, his incompetence allowing us to do what we need to do with little to no push back." the Mentranian viking echoed to the captain.

"And with the majority of the world's dragons banished into The Hidden World, as they have been for the last ten years and will remain being banished, the Hooligans will have absolutely no advantage over us. No extinct, oversized flying black lizard by Haddock's side when we eliminate him and his viking type, no four winged menace that his unloving mother had, and no ugly, wide, fat dogs with wings, which happened to be called Hobblegrunts, as our second father in Gustav informed us all of." the captain nodded.

"They had their own dragons, sir?" the Mentranian curiously questioned.

Before responding, the captain had quickly scanned the open seas of swaying waters, looking out through his telescope as the cold air hit their faces like rocks being pelted. So far, there was no sign of Friga Island, and so, the captain returned to his conversation with the Mentranian viking besides him, putting the wooden telescope away.

"They did. Our second father told us. But Hiccup Haddock, being the young incompetent boy he is, sent them away a decade ago into The Hidden World, as it's called. The next time those dragons somehow emerge out of there, they'll be wondering where their vikings went, when they stumble across the unified archipelago of Mega Mentra. They'll be given a shock, and rightly so."

"Absolutely, sir." the Mentranian viking nodded.

"Absolutely, indeed. Keep the sails on focus, I need to tend to the other boats behind ours." the captain said, beginning to walk towards the backside of his boat to shout out to the other amarda boats, containing Berserker vikings and Mentranian vikings as they sailed for Friga Island.

* * *

"We've got rocky pillars and an elevated land with grass in the distance. Get the men ready. This could very well be Friga Island." the captain uttered, looking through his wooden telescope, sighting an island that had matched the description that Gustav briefed the armada on prior to them sailing for Friga for the invasion of said island.

"Any signs of foreign activity?" the lone Mentranian on the same boat as the captain asked.

The Mentranian viking captain glared once again through his telescope. As he tried to get a closer look at the internal structures of the island, he could see nothing but thick-looking waterfalls, amongst the elevated hills that appeared to have dead trees on them.

But it didn't seem to have any foreign tribes on it, at least that's what the Mentranian captain assumed, from what he was seeing.

"None at all. It appears to be vacant, but those waterfalls are making me struggle to get a clearer glance. We'll guide the men behind us into the island, and we'll have set ourselves upon it as quickly as possible. Once we've gained the occupation, we'll scan the island for any foreign vikings, is that clear?" the captain stressed.

"Clear, sir. I'll adjust our sails and yell to the rest of the armada." the Mentranian viking replied.

The whole armada had been sailing for the past ten minutes, and they were now within a touching distance of Friga Island. It looked empty and vacant, and the unusual structure of the island, from its elevated hills all around, with dead trees on top of them, made the Mentranian vikings study it rather confusingly as their boats sailed forwards.

"We'll stop at the beach and march ourselves into the island collectively. ADJUST YOUR SAILS, MEN!" the captain said to the single Mentranian viking on his boat, subsequently yelling that last part of his sentence to the rest of the armada.

As the armada and their boats looked to halt on the shores of the beaches of Friga Island, the captain had a quick observation that he wanted to reveal.

"Gustav, our second father, had informed me personally that this island used to be the vacation spot of the Hooligans during their prime." he chuckled.

"What?!" the Mentranian viking laughed.

"Given our second father's past, I've got a good feeling that it's true. How utterly humiliating it must've been for Hiccup and his little tribe, for them to have embarked on a so-called vacation on this island, in the knowledge of their incompetence, and their failures."

"Luckily sir, they won't be having any more vacations once Mega Mentra becomes the future for the entirety of this archipelago."

The Mentranians and Berserkers, in their hundreds+, marched their way through Friga Island after eventually landing physically their boats onto the shores of the beaches. As they marched with loud stomps, with their helmets wobbling on their heads slightly as the fanatic vikings stomped harshly, they glared all across the environment of the island, acknowledging its unorthodox structure.

They eventually reached one of the large waterfalls of the island, reaching the middle of said island. The waterfall was surrounded by a large lake of dark water, whilst the surrounding vicinity had dense forests and more elevated hills. The Mentranian and Berserker vikings concluded their invasion marches, whereby they had marched in choreographed positions.

"It only takes one foreigner to jump out from the corners for our conquering to go wrong. Before we can comfortably claim and annex this island, we must do a scan and search of the place. Remember men, we are doing this for the future of the Mentranian people and vikings. When Mega Mentra is imposed upon this archipelago, their living space will be dramatically increased, and it'll be in thanks to our efforts in ridding the world of the Hooligans and our enemies. Go, go, go!" the captain commanded.

"AYE!" the entirety of the fanatics yelled, before splitting up in large groups, aiming their crossbows towards the forests and the areas they were off to search, to commence their search all over the island for any 'foreigners'.

And so, the conquering of the archipelago continues. Had Hiccup & co attacked Mentra earlier on itself, Hawkon's regime wouldn't have been able to invade gradually the surrounding islands. But they've left it far too late, and now because of that, Hawkon's regime has been able to gradually annex and conquer the islands it's set out to invade thus far.

Its intention of turning the archipelago into one unified 'paradise' of Mega Mentra, whereby everyone living under it, including on ALL the islands annexed and turned into Mentra's own, must engage in the cult of personality around Hawkon, and generally just an isolated, no-freedom lifestyle, was coming to fruition.

The Mentranian vikings, with the Berserkers, are now even closer to victory. It's only when they kill Hiccup and invade New Berk successfully that they'll have officially won the war.


	37. Invading Changewing Island

**CHAPTER 37: Invading Changewing Island**

"As we speak now, sir Hawkon, the armada's now on their sailing route to the other island I mentioned to the men and yourself, Changewing Island." Gustav Larson said, sat besides Hawkon the Second, the Mentranian leader.

They were inside the giant secretive hall of Mentra. In it was a half-circle shaped wooden table, with Gustav and Hawkon sat in the middle of it. On the surrounding lengths of it, on the left and right sides, were Mentranian vikings who were members of the governing body of the Mentranian regime: the overseers party.

This was an overseers party meeting, headed by the Mentranian leader himself, and it was a meeting that was called not to discuss the ongoing invasion of Changewing Island, but instead, the invasion that'll follow it; the invasion of the Caldera Cay.

"From what I remember, Gustav, no tribes will be on Changewing considering, according to your own words, it's literally a heap of rock?" Hawkon asked, as the numerous Mentranian vikings situated on the curving parts of the table took notes, wearing their helmets as they did so.

"Indeed. It won't have anything or anyone on it. Changewing dragons won't be on there anymore, thanks to Hiccup, so that'll be our advantage." Gustav nodded, the vengeful, once-Berkian viking uttered to Hawkon.

Hawkon was pleased to hear that.

The 20 year old despot viking had developed a 'solution' of sorts for the 'problem' that'll arise for the Mentranian regime when they take over the Caldera Cay in particular, and occupy the island, with its defenders of the wing tribe under the Mentranian occupation. It's a problem, Hawkon's realised, that'll be widespread across the whole archipelago, the more islands his regime annexes and occupies, hence the need for him, in his view, to call this meeting to reveal the solution.

"My vikings, and my people here, with Fludgeon, our ally, not here to witness our future plans being negotiated, I'm not going to waste any time. We have already taken up a credible amount of the archipelago. Our vikings occupy the islands we've captured with no resistance. The Hooligans are hardly seen. We have our own open goal here, to continue to annex and occupy as much of the archipelago as we want. We will never surrender to the Hooligans, and that intention I feel, given the will and motivation of our defence force, and our success, will lead to our victory." Hawkon proudly nodded.

Gustav Larson and the Mentranian viking overseer party associates nodded.

"But a problem has emerged for me. In particular, when the Caldera resistance commences, and we defeat them and make them surrender, and be in doubt, we will win that battle and take over them. But when we do, we will have a vast range of foreign viking tribes and individuals under our rule. We already, according to the men, have a bunch of Outcasts imprisoned and enslaved on Outcast Island, in greater numbers than we anticipated." Hawkon said.

"The goal of the war is to convert this archipelago into our own, and make the vikings upon it, whether they're Outcasts, Hooligans, or any others, convert to our guiding ideology. What's the problem there, father?" one of the overseer party associate vikings asked, from one side of the table.

"We will be overfilled with foreign vikings. And allow me to add onto your goal of this war. Our goal is to also ensure that a Drago or a Grimmel type of individual never arises again. And it is on this basis, alongside our problem of being overfilled with foreigner vikings, that I propose a solution."

The vikings in the otherwise empty hall had listened up.

"Not only an expansion of our isolation camps, but a complete overhaul of them. A whole new term. A whole new way of style in them, a whole new set of conditions, rules, and types of occurrences, should we say, that'll go on in them."

Gustav Larson took a keen interest in that. The second-in-command Mentranian viking glared at Hawkon.

"Sir Hawkon, I do hope we prioritise the Hooligans in these overhauled camps. What exactly would they consist of, that'll differ them from our isolation camps already?" Gustav asked.

"We expand them, build new ones all on the occupied islands under our rule on the archipelago, which'll be the foundations of Mega Mentra. We make the conditions unbearable, and we totally dump the name 'isolation camp' and call them what I want them to be, 'death camps'. Think about it. An archipelago, under the rule of the eventual Mega Mentra, free of any disobedient foreigner viking, who'll be put into slavery work, and forcefully exposed to the numerous executions that'll go on in these new camps, to enforce their obedience to our ideology."

"The children vikings we may find in our ongoing invasions, eventually under our occupation, will be put into these newly expanded camps. Two camps built on each occupied island. We then diverge our attention to the traitors in the hostile tribes we've captured, like the Outcasts, Defenders of the wing, and as you said, Gustav, eventually, the Hooligans. We will make it so a random section of that lot are sent into execution chambers, whereby a group of them, one by one, are taken into these proposed chambers, to be disposed of by one of our loyal, proud, defenders."

The overseers party vikings nodded as they casually wrote down the horrific, heartless intentions of their dictator.

"The children will be exposed to these, because we not only want them to follow our ideology, we also want to keep the fear of death in their heads, so if they even dare to try to become the next Drago or Grimmel when they're older, they'll have it in their heads what'll happen. The Mentranian strength is that our vikings support our leadership in major heaps, so this 'solution' will enforce that praise upon us, creating loyalty, and a whole new environment, to the point they'll never ever disrespect their soon to be leaders, in ourselves." Hawkon said, the leader heavily keen on the monstrous 'solution' he's got in mind.

"And as you said, sir, it'll also deal with the numbers problem. Disposing of...let's say, a group of 30 vikings we've captured, in these proposed execution chambers, will decrease the strain on our defenders because there'll be less vikings to keep in check." one overseers party viking observed.

"Precisely. We could even utilise some of the buildings already on some of our occupied islands, and turn them into our death camps. You know how we all have Operation Catafly, which is our operation for the eventual attack and invasion of New Berk? this solution will be called Operation Cleanout. Cleaning out all of the foreigner vikings to deal with the numbers problem, and to enforce our authority on the young foreigner children vikings." Hawkon said.

"Quite frankly, sir, alongside that, we ought to slaughter the Hooligans in Operation Cleanout with no remorse or chance of them living to even do slavery." Gustav proposed.

"It may very well come down to that, Gustav. We're winning the war, and to strengthen our cause, we shall move forwards with Operation Cleanout, whereby we will turn the archipelago into a land where even the slightest bit of disobedience can land you into the realms of death and fire." Hawkon said, smiling and feeling proud of himself.

The meeting had now been concluded.

Hawkon's 'solution' is to basically turn the Barbaric Archipelago into a police state, when it becomes Mega Mentra, to keep the soon-to-be expanded regime and its leaders in power by enforcing fear into the vikings on the archipelago. And also by exposing them and the 'foreigner' children vikings to public executions and torture. All of this so the eventual, unified archipelago of Mega Mentra, Hawkon's route in the future after defeating the Hooligans, can stay in existence for decades to come after the war.

Hiccup & co better arrive sooner or later, before the Mentranians get any further with heartless, murderous intentions like the above. Operation Cleanout was going to commence straight away too.

* * *

"Alright men, there it is." the armada captain uttered, pointing ahead across the seas.

"Is...is that it, sir?" one Mentranian viking questioned, shocked at just how small the island looked from the distance.

"Indeed it is. It's literally just a heap of medium sized rocky blocks or whatever, mixed in with some dense forest."

The Mentranian armada sailed towards Changewing Island, as it seemed to be vacant of any Changewing dragons, much to the delight of the Mentranians and the few Berserkers on board the armada with them.

"Only takes us a couple of hours to get back from here to Mentra. We should be more than set for our occupation and eventual annexation of it."

"We mustn't get complacent." the captain uttered, as the boats of the armada sailed in line with the sails and the winds.

And so, the armada sailed its way towards Changewing Island. Mentra, however, saw this invasion of Changewing as an easy one, because after this, it'll be Caldera Cay next on the list to be invaded.

Caldera Cay is where the Mentranian viking regime will utilise its most powerful force it'll ever use thus far. Because of the fact there's a living tribe on there. Changewing Island is a foregone conclusion in the war effort, in favour of the Mentranians.

Caldera Cay, the next island on Mentra's invasion targets, is going to be taken much more seriously, which'll mean much more brutality and strength against it and its viking tribe on there by the regime.

The engulfing and invasion of the Barbaric Archipelago, on behalf of the Mentranian regime on the island that used to be called Berk, (technically Old Berk now), continues on, with little to no effective strike backs from the Hooligans.

Hiccup's ineffective strike backs need to change pronto.

And now, with Hawkon, the Mentranian viking leader, intending on turning the archipelago into a 'police state' with death camps that'll include executing 'foreign' viking tribes on behalf of the Mentranians, under their cult of personality that they'll extend to the whole archipelago under 'Mega Mentra' should they defeat the Hooligans and win the war, Hiccup's attack needs to come by much quicker.


	38. Caldera overtake

**CHAPTER 38: Caldera overtake**

"The aggression's unsettling. We haven't seen anything like this for years..." a black tunic-wearing defender uttered to their new queen, who had replaced Mala a decade ago when it became clear she had vanished.

"Aggression of who? the great protector?" the queen of Caldera Cay asked.

"There's a war raging between Hiccup at his new island...and the vikings on Berk...if it's even called Berk anymore. It's an aggressive viking tribe within a close distance of our own island...or viking regime...their aggression is unprecedented as far as the wider-archipelago is concerned..."

The defenders of the wing tribe, some of them anyways, were stood on a hilly rock surface just at the edge of the cay. The dormant mountain had flared up small portions of smoke into the dark skies, the smoke being thick enough to be seen in the midst of the late nights.

The queen had specifically come here with some of the tribe, in their black face masks and their short-sleeved/long-sleeved tunics with shoulder guards, because of the news of some sort of viking regime situated on Berk, aggressively conquering the archipelago one by one.

The news of the regime had long been spread out to the various tribes of the archipelago, but they never took it seriously.

That was of course, until it became known that the regime had declared war on the Hooligans. It has particularly unsettled the defenders, because Mala's been missing for over a decade now, as has her husband, Dagur, and their disappearance had coincided with the rising strength and emergence of the Mentranian viking regime.

They were certain their disappearance was something to do with that regime. They were pretty close to the island that used to be called 'Berk' too, which made them scarily anticipate some sort of attack. Especially now.

Little did they know what actually happened to Dagur and Mala, though.

"The great protector will guard our tribe and island. He always does." the queen said, wearing her own black tunic with shoulder guards, except hers had golden linings on it, and she didn't have a face mask.

That comment had made the other defenders gulp in their masks. They knew the Great Protector in their Euruptodon protected their island, but this was a fanatical, aggressive regime.

They secretly knew such a regime would crush over their Great Protector. That's why they were genuinely praying that they weren't about to be attacked by the regime on Berk. Also known as Mentra.

"We've heard of this so-called regime. Where are they? they sound like slightly more advanced Dragon Hunters. And you all know what we do with Dragon Hunters. We fight them. We attack. We can defend our island from them if need be." the queen said.

"I'm hoping we do so." one of the defenders said, as they all looked out to the open seas surrounding their dormant-volcano island.

"What on earth has happened on Berk?" another defender asked.

"It's...not Berk anymore. It's something...fanatical and dangerous. We have to be on the look out, even this late at midnight...there's a war raging on and we're vulnerable."

"The Great Protector will help us out, he will scare them off..." the queen once again insisted.

* * *

Boats, war boats, in huge numbers of 30s to 40s, had surrounded the other side of the Caldera Cay, specifically nearer to the dormant volcano. Precisely one half of Berserkers and one half of Mentranians were on this armada, that had already reached the Caldera.

Battleaxes, crossbows, bull-horned metal helmets, metal spears, chain armour, the Berserkers and Mentranians made up a formidable and unstoppable force.

They deliberately intended the invasion to take place in the middle of the night, so the defenders of the wing tribe were caught off guard. That was their plan.

This armada boasted the highest amount of boats, amounts of Mentranians and Berserkers, and the highest profile 'captain' yet. The Mentranian viking regime wasn't lying when it made it clear it was treating the invasion of Caldera Cay as a warm up invasion for New Berk.

The men and vikings, rumbling amongst themselves as they awaited their command in the pitch black night, the command from Fludgeon, who was leading this particular invasion, maintained their positions on their boats. Having looted out the various islands conquered, particularly Outcast Island, they had the most equipment and weaponry for any invasion they've ever done thus far.

"We ready to go, sir?" a close Berserker ally of Fludgeon asked, as the Berserker chieftan studied the dormant volcano of the cay.

"We are indeed. MAN UP THE CATAPULT AND PREPARE YOURSELVES!" Fludgeon cried out, to a huge roar of cheers of a patriotic nature.

The invasion was about to commence. The fact it was being led by Fludgeon this time clearly indicated just how much more serious and deadly it was going to be.

Hundreds and hundreds of Berserkers and Mentranians, all stationed currently on their respective boats, ready to invade and annex the Caldera Cay, and subsequently, to transfer some of the defenders into the death camps under Hawkon's 'Operation Cleanout'.

* * *

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" the queen yelled, as a commotion seemed to be emerging within the inner village of the cay.

"THERE'S A STRANGER!" a defender yelled from the village, keeping his eyes on the intruder.

Very quickly, a gigantic number of half masked up defenders, in their black tunic, shoulder-guarded gear, rushed into the village where a huge number of themselves were congregating, wielding wooden spears with metal tips attached to them. The defenders pointed their archaic spears towards the grey-haired, black-geared robed individual who happened to be standing in a posture that came across as an attempt to be intimidating.

The defenders of the tribe, their regular tribe members, the ones who weren't apart of the combating side of the tribe, had all began congregating towards the commotion which was literally only five minutes away from the shores. The dormant volcano had towered their upper eyesight at this point, its structure was that large, but that wasn't what was being focused on right now.

Caldera Cay was in the midst of some sort of commotion that was being made a big deal out of by the defenders, in their black tunic masks as they aimed their metal-tipped wooden spears towards the individual in question. The viking they were aiming their spears at, in a circle formation, had a crossbow attached to his gear on his back.

The queen of the cay finally emerged, and upon shoving her way through the circling defenders of the tribe, she pulled out her own blade and aimed it precisely at the stranger.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" she asked, ensuring her mouth and hair were covered with her black tunic half mask, wearing up the typical defender of the tribe gear.

Fludgeon the Feared wasn't intimidated in the slightest by being surrounded. Not in the slightest. He was about to reveal to these folks that he's the one responsible for Mala being missing, as well as Dagur, before signalling for the rest of the Berserkers and Mentranians to march onto the island and commence the overtake.

"My my, it didn't take you all long to get your swords and spears all worked up. I wonder why?" Fludgeon asked, wanting to play with their minds, "is it because your old queen..." he shrugged, starting to walk around casually in the midst of being circled, aimed at by metal tipped spears, "Mala, hasn't been seen in the past ten years?"

The new queen of the defenders of the tribe instantly signalled for her fellow tribe members to lower their spears.

"What're you talking about? how do you know Mala?" she asked, widened eyes and aching chest.

"Patience dear, patience. And I suppose you'll also be aware of the fact that Dagur...is no longer around?" Fludgeon further interrogated.

"Who is he?" one of the tribe members asked, as they kept their angry, flame-filled eyes aimed firmly towards Fludgeon as he walked about in his black, scaly robe gear.

"I...am the Berserker Chieftan..." Fludgeon declared, which caused everyone to glare at each other with confusion.

"DAGUR IS...NOBODY HERE KNOWS YOU?!"

"Dagur doesn't have the conscious to know anybody anymore...because he's dead. As is Mala. I am the Chieftan of the resurgent Berserkers. Your old queen was taken away by ME." Fludgeon fully revealed, pointing to his chest.

"THE GREAT PROTECTOR HAS ARRIVED..." the new queen yelled.

The tribe was utterly shocked, and some of them were so that they felt like vomiting; they wanted to believe that it wasn't the case that Mala and Dagur were dead...but the tone and the overall presentation of this individual...it made them think that what he was saying was perhaps the truth...after all, why would Mala and Dagur just disappear like that, and remain so for the past decade?

The queen had called for the new protector in the Eruptodon to fly down as a result of their shock, to take out Fludgeon.

Suddenly, a large, stone-looking dragon that was huge in size and width, made a crash landing directly in front of Fludgeon.

The sheer thickness of the scales and the colouration, like a rocky grey, gave it an intimidating and unique perception. Its eyes were tiny in the middle of its scales they were situated on, its wings having small cracks of lava or some sort of orange colouration through them on the sides, and just the overall structure of this dragon, as it crashed down onto the ground, provided it with a new aura from the other dragons previously seen.

The statue-looking dragon growled and slowly leaned its way towards Fludgeon, who simply stared up and looked at the enraged 'new protector' dragon.

"YOU'RE THE KILLER OF OUR OLD QUEEN AND HER HUSBAND?! THE GREAT PROTECTOR HERE WILL BURN YOU TO SHREDS FOR DOING SUCH A THING! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A DRAGON HUNTER LOOKING FANATIC!"

Fludgeon chuckled, as he laid eyes on the stone-looking dragon as it growled.

"You honestly didn't think I came here without a bit of back up, right?" Fludgeon chuckled, unveiling his crossbow.

"Wha-?"

"**FIREEEEEEEEEEEE!**" Fludgeon roared, sending a chill into the chests and hearts of all of the tribe members, and it made the big Eruptodon jump a bit.

Suddenly, a giant boulder began descending from the direction of the sky behind Fludgeon as he stood back, and the boulder came within a direct hit of the giant Eruptodon. The second the boulder bounced off of the 'great protector', the tribe members watched on in awe as they still aimed their spears in worry. Fludgeon pulled out not one, but two crossbows, and instantly fired both of the venom arrows into the 'great protector'.

Having dazed the big dragon, Fludgeon finished it off with two venom arrows, causing it to collapse and fall down to its side. Having done so, Fludgeon looked back up at the shocked tribe members and regulars, before taking a step back.

That was Fludgeon's plan. He knew the 'Great Protector' would take more than one arrow, and a little daze, for the venom to properly work as it did with the other dragons, having gained knowledge as Dagur's successor as the Berserker Chieftan after executing him.

"I'd have offered you, your 'majesty', to surrender, alongside your whole tribe, but I'm afraid our game is already beginning..." Fludgeon chillingly uttered, as roars and yells could be heard emerging in the direction behind Fludgeon.

Torches, running vikings, running Berserkers and fully-masked up vikings, which were the Mentranians, became rife in the trees behind Fludgeon, as the tribe members had the reality dawned upon them; this was the regime. This was the regime from Berk initiating an invasion.

The ground was vibrating that much there were so many charging Berserkers and Mentranians, as Fludgeon stood back with a smug expression and stand.

"**ATTTTTTTAAAAAAACK THEMMMMMMMMM!**" the new queen yelled, completely and utterly unhinged at the 'Great Protector' being seemingly killed like that.

The tribe members in their tunic half black masks, charged towards the incoming Berserkers as they identified them as, and the Mentranians, as they all rushed out like boulders rolling from the top of a mountain. Straight away, they all felt cramped, the numbers were far too big for them.

The tribe members poked out their metal-tipped spears to the Mentranians and Berserkers, but it was of no use. As they all marched inwards to the island, they grabbed a hold of the regular tribe members and raged their weapons and crossbows upon the fighters.

"WATCH OUT, THEY'RE COMING IN FROM ALL AROUND THE ISLAND!" the queen yelled, as she tried to escape, only to be cut off by another incoming portion of Mentranians and Berserkers.

"THE GREAT PROTECTOR IS DEAD, WE-" one tribe member yelled, before feeling an arrow being shot right into her shoulder, sending her down to the floor, the venom knocking her out.

Yells and roars were rife in the air as the conflict moved into the middle of the Caldera Cay. The regular tribe members began evacuating to the other side of the cay, but it was of no use due to the sheer number of incoming Mentranians and Berserkers. Just hearing their yells and cries of battle had been enough to make the attempted evacuees all freeze in place as the Berserkers and Mentranians arrived.

As the defenders of the tribe gradually and rapidly became more and more outnumbered, losing the battle, an ordered thick line of Mentranians and Berserkers began marching from the direction the initial chargers of both Mentranian and Berserkers came from.

They swung their legs up high into the air as they marched casually in their over 200+ numbers. Like any other invasion, they were marching through the Caldera Cay, all the way up to the dormant volcano, to cement their mark and strength on the land.

Another ten minutes of struggle, and the whole island was now surrounded and invaded by Berserkers and Mentranians, the queen had finally conceded, having a bunch of wounds and blood stains on her face.

She was going to surrender to the Berserkers and the Mentranians.

The defenders of the tribe surrendered to the Mentranians and Berserkers. Now, not only were they going to have to live on their own island under a brutal and deadly occupation of dictatorial vikings, and a reformed, resurgent Berserker tribe, but now, they were going to become victims of the main dictatorial viking, in Hawkon, by his 'Operation Cleanout' plans.

There were young children and regular members of the tribe, now all under the occupation of the Mentranian regime and its main ally, in the Berserkers.

The Caldera Cay was now officially another conquered piece of land under the Mentranian regime as apart of its war against the Hooligans and their allies. Now, the defenders of the tribe, the ones who remained alive from the battle just now, will be forced to live under the cult of personality of Hawkon that the island of Mentra and its vikings live under.

And some of them will be deported off to the various death camps that'll rapidly be built all across the archipelago, to begin the foundations of 'Mega Mentra'.

The defenders of the tribe, now officially surrendered, were secretly and desperately begging in their heads for Hiccup and the Hooligans to come by and save them; they felt isolated from their families, their friends, and just their fellow tribe members. It's never been the case that they've lived under a forced occupation of their island by a bunch of dictatorial, dangerous, fanatical vikings before.

The feeling was incredibly scary and nerve-wracking. Rendered free of any strength to fight back now, they feared for their lives. There was a prominent number of themselves to be treated by the Berserkers and Mentranians too, which made them fear they could potentially become victims of a 'exterminate a majority of them' objective, something that could very well come to fruition under Operation Cleanout.

They knew Hiccup and his tribe saving them was unlikely, and so, the majority of them were crying in secret, whilst the Mentranians and Berserkers not only looted out Caldera Cay for their benefit for the war, but plotted who in the tribe was going to be departed to the work/death camps.

The defenders of the wing tribe, the Mentranians decided, were going to be the tribe who'd get sent to the death camps the most, purely for the fact they had history with Dagur, the old Chieftan of the Berserkers. The defenders of the wing were going to become slaves, treated harshly with cruel, non-human-like tactics.

Hawkon was once again a step closer to victory, now having conquered Caldera Cay in thanks to Fludgeon leading the invasion.


	39. Engulfed archipelago

**CHAPTER 39: Engulfed archipelago**

As every day life continued on inside the regime of Mentra for the vikings on the island itself, as if a deadly, brutal war involving death camps wasn't happening at all, the regime's overseers party had constructed a big wooden pole that was situated besides the main rock statue of Hawkon's father, the previous Mentranian leader. That statue was where the stairs to the Great Hall used to be (when the island was Berk).

It was another propaganda tactic on behalf of the Mentranian leadership, and it was a new thing that they were inflicting upon their vikings. In light of the war effort, the regime felt it'd be healthy for themselves to feed their viking population with positive coverage of the war, all in a perspective that favoured their dictator in Hawkon the Second.

This is what it specified below, and how it was organised on the paper itself that was attached to the wooden pole. It was all written in the viking symbols, but this is what it'd translate to in 'proper' English, or 'our' English.

It was somewhat like a newspaper article, viking style, except there was only one, and the Mentranian vikings could only find it and read it by going to that wooden pole next to the statue of their old leader, in Hawkon's father.

_FATHER HAWKON'S LEADERSHIP PROMPTS WAR PROGRESS!_

_As the war between the Hooligan scum rages on, as they seek to steal our sovereign right to our own island, our father's leadership has prompted a surge of progression in the face of the enemy. _

_The father had long promised that in fending off the Hooligans and their allies as they seek to conquer our sovereignty, his priority would be to expand living space for us. Our efforts have been to conquer and destroy foreign islands surrounding ours, for they've long held alliances with the Hooligans. The father pledged to eliminate these off of the face of the archipelago so he could make more space for the expansion he intends on delivering for us._

_In that goal, not only has our father pushed back the Hooligans to a state of weakness and inactiveness, he has conquered the enemies and their islands he set out to achieve, in order to make our expansion possible; Outcast Island, Changewing Island, Friga Island, Dragon Island, Caldera Cay, Prisoner bay, or as it was once called under the reign of the Hooligan scum, the Dragon's Edge._

_ He has also defeated and conquered the Rookery Island of hotness and steam, and our Berseker Allies have provided us with further expansion space on their own island._

_The war is far from over, but on the basis of our efforts, we ought to send our greatest applause to our father Hawkon. He is supreme, he is the king of the skies, he sets the intended standard for The Viking's Mentra by activating our truly untouchable strength in the face of our enemies. _

_To protect our sovereignty and to stop the Hooligans from taking back what they claim has always been their island of 'Berk', the father has set out his aims and intended goals of invading the homeland of the Hooligans themselves. The Viking's Mentra takes no mercy in its enemies, and when our father single handedly initiates our overtaking of their homeland, sending them into the dark alleys of non-existence, his loyalty and his strength will be solidified._

_This is a huge step forwards for our future. For the father's living space expansion will result in the archipelago becoming our own sovereign land. Free of any enemies, free of any Drago or Grimmel-like rises, and free of any mutiny. _

_Our defenders, under the heroic and godly leadership of our father, have set out the winning goal of the war, of killing Hiccup Haddock, the face of our hostiles. The one legged bane who dares talks down the legitimacy of The Viking's Mentra by insisting our island isn't actually ours, and instead, his, referring to it by the term 'Berk'._

_Our second father provides a stunning light upon the face of our hostiles. Having history with Haddock, the second father, our Gustav Larson, has shone stunning revelations on the boy: Hiccup Haddock was the hated one in his teens. His incompetence led to a great hatred from his father. Haddock held up a steel weapon, only for his arms to deflate and drop said weapon like a little boy._

_Pure humour. Once again, in thanks to the accounts provided by our second father in Gustav, is it any wonder his mother left Haddock for 20 years, and his father had passed away? the guilt and shame Haddock likely feels is one we truly hope he feels, to the point it makes him commit an act of harm in some form before we strike their home island. If not self harm, we and our forces, as apart of our might and war efforts to secure victory, will do the harming for him inevitably._

_Haddock's reliance on an extinct, black lizard who'd make better usage as scaly armour upon being chopped up and quartered, never even came to last, as our second father once again informed us. Whilst Haddock's own family despised the boy himself, his own feeble and repulsing lizard, who's since been locked away in the Hidden World, as our second father reiterated to us, seemingly did so too, for he never stayed around._

_Much to our benefit. The enemies had long began weakening and disarming themselves long before they anticipated our strength and might evidently._

_Fellow vikings, our heavenly father and his inspirational leadership will prevent Hiccup and his Hooligan scum, alongside his allies, from ever trying to rid us of our constitute legitimacy. The Viking's Mentra will reign in victory as our might continues on, our motives stay strong, and our father fights on for the protection of his vikings. _

_On with the war, father. The Mentranians have your back. We speak the same for our second father, Gustav Larson. God bless you both, and on behalf of the Mentranian vikings, save us and defeat the enemy and secure victory!_

That was what the paper on the wooden pole next to the statue said. What it failed to mention was the fact that all of the innocent vikings and tribes across the archipelago, who've become victims under the Mentranian invasions, will be deported to the inhumane death camps that Hawkon intends on building across the archipelago to cement the foundations of Mega Mentra, and just generally as apart of the war effort.

That newspaper post was clearly written with the assistance of Gustav Larson, given the contents of it listing Hiccup's background and so on.

On Mentra itself, on the isolated island, the vikings were getting on with their every day lives to the extent you wouldn't think there was a war going on.

The scent of seaweed from the shores behind the barbed wire, wooden borders cutting off Mentra's outside from the villages, the vikings walking and talking happily with all of their friends and family, sporting their compulsory Hawkon pins on their gear, the entirety of the village and the rest of the island contrasted what Mentra's governing party, the overseers party, was doing to the archipelago surrounding it.

The reality was, whilst the overseers party, the defenders, and the leadership were nothing more than despots, the actual vikings under the regime were compassionate, genuinely appreciative people, who just so happened to be under the rule of such a leadership. The battles and invasions of Mentra didn't represent the actual, regular vikings living under it, in a nutshell.

Some were genuinely brainwashed, the majority were simply playing along and pretending to care about their leadership and Hawkon, to avoid being executed and punished harshly for defying the lawful expectations of the regime.

And there were some who knew of the regime's inhumane actions in the archipelago and just the brutality that risked coming their way if they refused to bow down to Hawkon and obey the lifestyle. Those types wanted to defect from the regime, but they obviously couldn't. Being caught trying to defect would most likely be a death sentence. They also couldn't speak out due to the risk of severe punishment.

To think, what used to be Berk has now become the above. Stoick never would've imagined such events occurring on Berk, for it to be turned into 'Mentra', a brutal, heartless viking land with a strictly dictatorial way of running things.

A heap of Mentranians were stood in a massive group together, reading the piece of 'news' paper nailed onto the wooden post. They all read it with genuine curiosity as a Mentranian defender stood besides the post, guarding the statue.

The defender limited the time the vikings were given to read the paper on the wooden post due to the statue being right there. Due to how important the statues were within Mentra, it was seen as disrespectful to simply be stood in front of one for a long period of time, because it looked as if whoever was stood there was treating the vicinity as a casual, non-important place of stroll, when, in the regime's view, that was completely far from the case.

Doing that, accidental or not, can result in a severe punishment.

A group of Mentranian fishermen, covered in seawater, with cigars in their mouths as they walked in their group, chuckled and smiled amongst each other as they held their rods on their shoulders. They were old looking vikings, with their long beards dotted with occasional grey hairs in the beards. They were walking alongside the wooden border after finishing their fishing jobs for the day. Again, their smiles and chuckles gave the impression that a war wasn't being raged brutally in the archipelago by Mentra.

As per the cult of personality, they too had their Hawkon pins on their chest gear.

The boundaries in Mentra were unchanged. Boundaries meaning that the vikings of Mentra couldn't leave their own village without permission to do so. They were strictly kept in each portion of the island and its villages in order to keep control of the population in a smoother order.

Overseer party defenders sat on high, wooden, lifeguard-looking chairs, and their presence were basically the 'lines in the sand'. If any regular Mentranian crossed them, they'd quickly detain that Mentranian and ask them why they illegally passed their boundary.

Further contrasting what the governing party of Mentra and Hawkon is doing to the archipelago outside the island, the Mentranian vikings were all queing up to go inside the giant hall that used to be used by Hawkon when he held those secretive meetings with Gustav and so on, in regards to the war. There was a rare allowance of all the Mentranian vikings, on behalf of the regime, to come together and eat their morning fish soup.

In that cue was Stemp and her two children, Emer and Rald. Both of those children had recently seen a public execution, much to the horrifying hesitations of Stemp herself. She was one of the secretly terrified Mentranian vikings who wanted to defect and leave the island.

She wanted to speak out. Her fear has caused her to cry in her own hut, whereby in the past she had Mentranian defenders enter the hut to force her, in her _own_ hut, to bow down for Hawkon's father, the old Mentranian leader, because she had forgotten to put up the compulsory portrait of the late Mentranian leader.

Every single hut on the island needed to have that portrait up. Once again, a dangerous and severe punishment would be due for anyone who didn't have it up, as it'd be seen as a sign of disrespect towards the leader of Mentra. Stemp managed to escape such a punishment.

Stemp and her two children were finally at the front of the cue, surrounded by fellow Mentranian vikings, in their steel helmets and archaic coloured gear of brown. The scent of wood and seaside could be smelt amongst the group.

A Mentranian guard had halted Stemp and her two children. A compulsory act needed to be made before he allowed Stemp and the two children into the hut.

"Before you may eat...under the supervision and guarding of our dear late father..." the guard said, pointing to a giant portrait of Hawkon's father hanging on the wall at the far end of the hall, with it basically looking down at the hundreds of Mentranians squabbling in conversations and fish soup on the numerous wooden tables, "you must bow under his presence, with great dignity, so he can grant you his permission..."

Stemp took in a huge gulp of air.

"Come on mum, our father needs us to see that we respect him!" Emer said, being brainwashed by the propaganda that's already been fed.

Stemp was apprehensive. She couldn't say no to this. If she did, it'd be a grave mistake for her and her children. Emer and Rald stood besides her on both sides, before the three of them slowly bowed down with their arms by their sides, for a total of 5 seconds, as was required, their bowed heads pointing to the giant portrait.

As Stemp glared at the boring, cold, rusty looking wooden floor in her bow, she couldn't help but feel a sense of horror at just how much her children were exposed to; they've seen a public execution, and now it seems as if the propaganda has worked on them. She couldn't do anything about it though, due to the severe punishments that could come her way if she tried to do something.

"Very well. You may now head in and eat under his admirable leadership." the guard nodded.

Stemp was one of many Mentranian vikings/families who were secretly horrified and utterly scared of their own island. They felt like they were trapped in a very tight box with nothing but their own sweat heat and tears.

But looking across the hall right now, there were chuckles, Mentranian vikings putting their steel helmets down to eat their soup with dignity and straight faces, and little children running around the hall. Notably, the children never ran towards the giant portrait of the late leader; another sign that the propaganda has taken a place in their heads.

But this hall's mood of the Mentranian vikings, chuckling and smiling amongst their friends and family, contrasted the whole nature of the regime they lived under and what the regime was doing to the archipelago. Maybe they just didn't know any better.

In a nutshell, none of these vikings, the regular Mentranians, would ever commit the inhumane crimes against vikings that the Mentranian regime itself has committed. They're truly down to earth, caring vikings, who just so happen to be living under a group of vikings who care only for their luxuries benefits, acquired by war, public executions, and annexations.

The actual regular vikings under the regime are the complete opposite of Hawkon and those who operate the death camps, and imminently, Operation Cleanout.

In the midst of their casualness under the regime, where they lack any form of privacy or human rights, said regime is committing atrocities and war crimes against the archipelago it's eventually seeking to merge into one big vicinity of its own. An engulfed archipelago.

Hiccup needs to save these people pronto, as does Alvin and Blavery.


	40. Berserker retaliation plan

**CHAPTER 40: Berserker retaliation plan**

Unknown to Hiccup and co as they sailed the vast seas to Berserker Island, they were sailing upon an archipelago that was firmly under the occupation of Mentranian coalitions in the form of the Berserkers and the Mentranians themselves. A good portion of its vikings who lived on it peacefully were now facing their freedoms being grasped right from them, and in some cases, their freedoms exchanged for being forced to work in dire death camps imposed upon the archipelago by the supreme dictator of the Mentranian regime in Hawkon the Second.

But they had a duty. After delaying this for so long, now was the time for Hiccup & Alvin & Blavery to lead their own attack to try and resist the Mentranian regime. However, once again, none of them knew that they were actually sailing into a vicinity whereby the Mentranians and Berserkers occupied a good portion of it; they were essentially in the red zone, without realising it.

"HICCUP SON, ARE YOU READY TO KICK BACK?!" Alvin exclaimed, taking in the strong winds of the open sea, combined with the scent of seaweed.

Alvin and the Outcast tribe was amongst Hiccup's armada. They were joining him on this upcoming retaliation. On one of their boats rested a wooden, yet freshly crafted, catapult.

"We better be...it's gonna be a danger zone out here, without a doubt..." Hiccup said.

Hiccup knew himself that, having delayed retaliating against the Mentranians since he took out the first of the regime's four prominent vikings in Guddorn, the regime might have gained some more strength and a greater presence on the archipelago. That was why he was conceding that it might be a lot more dangerous out here than it initially would've been had he and the Hooligans struck back quicker.

"Just think, Hic," Alvin said gently, resting a palm on Hiccup's shoulder as the chieftan glared somewhat blankly out to the seas, "Astrid, no matter what state she may be in, is resting within their grasp, waiting for us to rescue her and put an end to their reign of terror...my boy, when we sail to Berserker Island and take out Fludgeon, we'll be one step closer to her."

"Thanks Alvin...uh, you know, I've somewhat eased my nerves abit, you know? logics kinda kicked into me here...they must have Astrid alive...as bad as it sounds, they'd want her alive, right in their hands, just for me to have a reason to run right into them..." Hiccup conceded.

"You never know..." Blavery said, approaching Hiccup from the other side, "they probably have her well protected and guarded. We'll be at her in no time if that's the case. They just wouldn't do anything to her given how much...uh..." Blavery was hesitant to say what he was about to say given how much it sounded like he was simply 'softening' up the situation, "leverage, I guess, they have, over you."

Hiccup nodded with Blavery's statement. He didn't disagree with that. On the basis of course that Astrid was alive.

Behind the boat the three vikings were on was a huge collection of other boats, filled up with a good portion of Hooligan vikings that Hiccup had personally helped in picking to join him from New Berk. The rest of the crew, in Snotlout, Fishlegs, Valka and so on, remained put on New Berk. Hiccup didn't want them having much of a risk in this war; no, Hiccup wanted to personally send a message to Hawkon, the dictator of what is slowly building into 'Mega Mentra', that he's coming for him.

That message was beginning its construction in the form of Hiccup's next plan; attacking Mentra where it hurts most; its prominent ally, in the Berserkers. And most importantly, taking out the second prominent figure out of Mentra's four prominent vikings; Fludgeon the Feared, the Chieftan of the 'resurgent' (as he often calls it) Berserkers.

As the collection of boats sailed in the direction to Berserker Island, Hiccup leaned towards Alvin as the open seas surrounded their collection of boats. He needed precise details on Fludgeon, the one he intends on capturing next in this upcoming retaliation.

"Alvin, assuming Fludgeon is on the island, what can we expect? how shall we go about capturing him? he's gonna be much tougher than Guddorn was, right?" Hiccup asked, looking to Alvin at the front of the boat.

"Oh my boy, Fludgeon isn't just tougher. He was...remember what I said? he was the architect of Dagur's execution...Fludgeon killed him, and let me tell you..." Alvin glared at the open seas, looking somewhat horrified at the sheer thought of Fludgeon, "he's ten times more deranged and insane than Dagur ever was...no sympathy comes out of this Berserker Chieftan...he kills, kills, and if he isn't happy, he'll kill some more...Dagur, in our battles, managed to sow up some sympathy at the end and we all got along...with Fludgeon, no sympathy can be expected. He is a mindless type of Berserker...Dagur would look sane in comparison to the guy...put it this way, in a fight, Dagur would want to punch you in the eye...Fludgeon would want to pull your eye out with his fingers...that's the difference..."

That last part made Hiccup cringe a little. But he got the memo; Fludgeon is much more deranged and mentally ill than Dagur ever was. Dagur wasn't even mentally ill, that's the difference between the two in a nutshell.

"I just fail to understand, Alvin, why the Berserkers would suddenly feel enraged about the brief peace we had with them under Dagur...to the point they execute their own Chieftan, replacing him with an even more insane one?"

"It's two things, Hiccup. One is the backlash Dagur faced behind closed doors. They led to brawls with his own vikings, they were that enraged with him. The truth is, most Berserkers were opposed to your fundamental ideas of cooperation between your beasts at the time...they didn't like you in general, but most importantly, they felt...humiliated, and they saw the peace as appeasing their enemy in yourselves, and me...Dagur was disposed of and with this new viking tribe...this new...regime at the top, they feel even more strengthened to resume their hostilities...we've already seen that so far, son." Alvin said.

"Fludgeon the Feared, his full title goes by, personifies the modern day Berserkers, I should add..." Blavery Borhid said, the Mentranian defector adding in his own views to the crucial conversation going on right now.

"Reality is, Hiccup, this Fludgeon here isn't gonna be easy to take. He's taller than Guddorn and will be guarded thoroughly with Berserkers."

"If it means we weaken Hawkon's influence and potential damage he may cause, then I'll risk it, especially if it means I can get to Astrid ultimately. I devised a plan for us to follow to the island when we get there...notice that I've got my wing suit on, as have a few others on the other boats behind us?"

Blavery and Alvin nodded.

"The other guys are gonna hop onto our boat when we get there. We're gonna use these catapults to fly ourselves up into the air to land right into the middle of their island. We'll hunt them out from the inside, whilst.." Hiccup pointed at Alvin, "you guys go around and attack them from behind, gradually making your way onto the island. We'll flush out Fludgeon and take him as ours."

"That's quite doable actually, my boy. I'll instruct my men to do that when we get there."

Hiccup hasn't ever heard of the grand plan Hawkon intends on pursuing in the form of Operation Catafly, but his plan to attack Berserker Island basically resembles Catafly; using catapults to elevate up into the skies whilst wearing wing suits to glide over the land. Quite a bit of irony there.

Alvin's men were sailing in their own boats, behind Hiccup's own set of boats in an adjacent line.

Hiccup did nothing but glare out to the open seas, to the direction of Berserker Island. He was taking a dive into the past; his eyes entirely paused, his hair freely being pelted with wind, subsequently having it flail and wave in sync with said wind, and his mouth plainly shut like he was frozen in place. The war, everything, was sending him into the past in his head.

Alvin went off to the back of the boat to get a view of his men's boats just behind the Hooligan's ones. Blavery remained stood with Hiccup. The Mentranian defector glared at Hiccup by the side of his eyes; he could see in Hiccup's expression that the legendary son of Stoick was thinking; thinking quite hard.

"Hiccup, what's on your mind, my friend?" Blavery Borhid asked.

Hiccup slowly turned to Blavery as the two remained stood firmly at the front of their sailing boat in its wooden structure.

"Just...wishing that it never had to end up like this. You know, when times were...better, for want of a better word..." Hiccup replied, returning to the same expression he had before responding just now.

Blavery had a thought, and it instantly made him spout out to Hiccup again.

"Do you...miss your dragon?" Blavery asked, shrugging his shoulders, "I think you and your mum...told me about when you guys used to have dragons, but I don't remember exactly what type you said you had?"

Hiccup's mind was precisely thinking back to the times that the dragons were amongst vikings. It was a coincidence that Blavery brought it up.

"Toothless was his name...he was a Night Fury. He's got three offspring now, down in The Hidden World. Hopefully, when this is all over Blavery, we'll be able to get lucky and take you to where we reunited with the Light Fury and Toothless...somebody who's gone through such an evil and merciless lifestyle like you deserves the charms of seeing dragons in person..."

"Do you miss him?"

"Of course I do...with Astrid still being held by the...you know who...I'm more than ever feeling quite...friendship sick, I think it's called? not just for Toothless, but for everyone's dragons at the time."

"Something tells me, Hiccup, if these dragons were still around, we'd be able to defeat Hawkon and his regime on your old island quite rapidly..."

"Me and Toothless both overcame Drago and Grimmel. I'm inclined to agree with you on that point, Blavery. But they're long gone back down into The Hidden World at this point...if we want to stop Hawkon we'll have to do it on our own..." Hiccup conceded, his chest aching at that idea.

He misses Toothless even more so now, in the midst of a deadly and dangerous encounter with a viking regime that took formation on Berk some years ago, after the Hooligans abandoned it and defeated Grimmel.

Hiccup also missed Cloudjumper, Stormfly, and just the dragons in general. He misses his father as well. If only times were different.

"I'll make a commitment, Blavery. When we end this and finally have our comeuppance, we'll take you to where The Hidden World is, and we'll see if any dragons pop up around that area. You deserve to see them especially."

Blavery leaned closer to Hiccup for a moment.

"Don't make any commitment to me, Hiccup. I should be making the commitments to you. And my commitment is this; I'm with you in this war not only to the end, but if it comes down to it, to the death as well."

At that, Hiccup and Blavery embraced each other in a friendly hug. Hiccup genuinely couldn't be more grateful for Blavery's help thus far. A Mentranian viking defector helping destroy the regime he once lived under is something Hiccup never imagined happening, but here he was now.

It was nearly time to prepare for the retaliation. Hiccup's boats of Hooligans and Alvin's boats of Outcasts sailed forwards across the open, warm-to-cold seas.

Whether or not Fludgeon was actually on Berserker Island was unknown to Hiccup & co. But there was no time to make predictions. They needed to take gambles in this war if they wanted any chance of defeating Hawkon's grotesque regime, starting with attacking Mentra's main ally and capturing Fludgeon the Feared.


End file.
